Dr. Sanjay Gupta emphasized on Tuesday that the approval of a novel non-opioid pain medication represents a significant development.
“This is a pretty big deal,” Gupta stated. “As you just mentioned, it’s been since 1998 that there’s been a new pain medication approved. I mean, the FDA typically approves dozens of medications for all sorts of things, but not pain, so patients really haven’t had many options.”
Gupta’s remarks came during his appearance on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of Journavx, also known as suzetrigine, last week. The oral tablet has been designated as a first-in-class non-opioid analgesic specifically for the treatment of acute pain in adults.
In an earlier statement, Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, described the approval as a notable advancement in the field of acute pain management.
“Today’s approval is an important public health milestone in acute pain management,” she said.
Corrigan-Curay further explained the significance of this new therapeutic class, stating, “A new non-opioid analgesic therapeutic class for acute pain offers an opportunity to mitigate certain risks associated with using an opioid for pain and provides patients with another treatment option.”
The introduction of this medication is particularly noteworthy given the dominance of opioid-based treatments for pain relief. Every year, tens of millions of Americans are prescribed opioids such as oxycodone and fentanyl to manage pain.
Gupta highlighted the distinction between opioids and the newly approved medication. “I think what is unique about this, if you think about opioids that you just mentioned, they tend to work primarily on the brain,” he said. “The brain processes all pain, so … that’s why they’re sedating, they can cause problems with addiction.”
He elaborated on how suzetrigine, marketed under the name Journavx, functions differently. “These pain medications, suzetrigine, Journavx as it’s called, works sort of more at the location of the pain, sort of trying to block the signals coming from the source of pain, going to the brain. As a result, you shouldn’t get euphoria,” Gupta added.
The approval of Journavx marks a breakthrough in pain management, offering a non-opioid alternative that may reduce the risks associated with opioid use while providing effective relief.
