New Non-Opioid Pain Medicine Approved

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Journavx (chemical name: suzetrigine) to ease short-term moderate to severe pain in adults. This is the first non-opioid pain reliever to be approved in decades. This is important because many people diagnosed with breast cancer are prescribed opioids for pain. Journavx could be a good option for them, especially for people who are concerned about the addiction risks linked to opioid medicines.

See Journavx prescribing information.

“[This] approval is an important public health milestone in acute pain management,” said Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, JD, MD, acting director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

“Anything we can add to the toolbox that will allow us to reduce opioid dependency is a significant positive,” said Paul White, PhD, MD, in an interview. White is an anaesthesiologist at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles who was involved in the development of Journavx.

Journavx works by blocking specific sodium channels in nerve cells that sense pain. These sodium channels are like molecular batteries that give the nerve cells the energy to send signals. When the channels are blocked, it stops the nerve cell from sending a pain signal to the brain.

The FDA’s approval was based on two studies looking at how well Journavx controlled pain: One after a tummy tuck and the other after a procedure to remove bunions. In both studies, Journavx eased pain better than a placebo, a pill that looked just like Journavax but contained no medicine.

The most common side effects of Journavx seen in the studies were itching, muscle spasms, rash, and increased levels of creatine phosphokinase in the blood. Creatine phosphokinase is an enzyme and higher blood levels can signal muscle stress or damage.

Journavx is available as 50 mg tablets. After taking the starting dose of 100 mg, you take 50 mg every 12 hours. According to the company that makes Journavx, the cost is $15.50 per 50 mg tablet.

If you’re prescribed Journavx, you should not take strong or moderate CYP2D6 inhibitors because they may increase the concentration of Journavx in the body, which can increase the risk of side effects. Many, but not all, antidepressants are CYP2D6 inhibitors.

Journavx also may make some types of birth control ineffective. It’s a good idea to ask your doctor if you need to use a different type of contraception while you’re taking Journavx.

You also should not eat or drink anything containing grapefruit while taking Journavx.