Get ready to hear the name Journavx a lot more.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new medication to treat moderate and severe acute pain in a move that will likely change how the medical community treats the condition. It’s the first medication approved in 25 years to treat pain…and it’s non-addictive.
Journavx, whose generic name is suzetrigine, is a non-opioid analgesic that reduces pain by targeting a pain-signaling pathway involving sodium channels in the peripheral nervous system before pain signals reach the brain. It’s a 50-milligram oral tablet taken every 12 hours and is the first drug to be released under this new class of medications.
Fire Walk with Me: The Science behind Journavx and Its Long and Winding Journey
While opioids work by dulling pain signals sent to the brain from the body, Journavx stops pain-signaling nerves around the body from activating from the start. Researchers say that the drug disrupts the flow of pain nerves, so even though tissue injury is present, the brain doesn’t know it. The medication is over two decades in the making, and its potential was discovered after researchers learned about a family of fire walkers in Pakistan who lacked a gene allowing pain signals to travel to their skin. The mutation allowed them to walk over hot coals without flinching. After 25 years of research, clinicians have tapped out to synthesize this genetic factor into a viable market-ready medication.
A Lifeline of Hope for the Pain and Recovery Communities
At a time when over 80,000 Americans per year are dying from opioid overdose, About 80 million fill prescriptions to treat new instances of moderate to severe pain in that same period. Nearly half of these scripts are written for opioid medications, the effects of which have become horrifically apparent. The development of non-opioid pain medications not only helps future cases of injury from spiraling into addiction; it may also open up a viable new means of pain management for people who are in recovery but are afraid of taking habit-forming drugs.
Your Recovery Unplugged care team will continue to track this medication and all others that have the potential to improve the health and quality of life of the patients who rely on us. Talk to your doctor before taking any new medication to ensure its safety, efficacy, and relevance to your condition.