FDA approves Vertex's non-opioid painkiller, first new kind of pain medicine in decades
1. Vertex's FDA-approved painkiller offers a non-opioid alternative for pain relief. 2. The drug addresses moderate-to-severe acute pain, impacting 80 million patients yearly. 3. Analysts predict annual sales could exceed $1 billion if approved for chronic pain. 4. Vertex's drug demonstrated fewer side effects compared to placebos in clinical trials. 5. It blocks pain signals at their origin, differing from traditional opioid mechanisms.