The FDA has approved Journavx (suzetrigine) 50 milligram oral tablets, “a first-in-class non-opioid analgesic, to treat moderate to severe acute pain in adults.”
Journavx “reduces pain by targeting a pain-signaling pathway involving sodium channels in the peripheral nervous system, before pain signals reach the brain.” It is the first drug to be approved “in this new class of pain management medicines.” Acute pain is “short-term pain that is typically in response to some form of tissue injury, such as trauma or surgery,” and it is usually “treated with analgesics that may or may not contain opioids.”
Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, touts this new class of medication for acute pain as “an opportunity to mitigate certain risks associated with using an opioid for pain and provides patients with another treatment option.”
Journavx’s efficacy was evaluated in “two randomized, double-blind, placebo- and active-controlled trials of acute surgical pain, one following abdominoplasty and the other following bunionectomy. In addition to receiving the randomized treatment, all participants in the trials with inadequate pain control were permitted to use ibuprofen as needed for “rescue” pain medication. Both trials demonstrated a statistically significant superior reduction in pain with Journavx compared to placebo.”
Matt MacKenzie | Associate Editor
Matt is Associate Editor for Healthcare Purchasing News.
