The prescription pills, sold under the brand name Journavx and made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, are taken twice a day and represent the first new class of pain medications in 20 years—and the first non-opioid painkiller since that class first appeared on the market in the 1980s.

The drug, Journavx by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, blocks pain signals to the brain, making it nonaddictive. The Food and Drug Administration approved a new medication Thursday to treat pain from an injury or surgery. It is expensive, with a list price of $15.50 per pill. But unlike opioid pain medicines, it cannot become addictive.

The drug offered more relief than a placebo in clinical trials, though it does not appear more effective than other pain medicines. View on euronews

Despite high demand for an option like Journavx, doctors fear the drug’s price could be a major hangup for insurers, potentially limiting patients’ ability to access it.

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. surged ahead of Friday’s market open after the Food and Drug Administration approved the company’s non-opioid pain treatment.

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals rose after Journavx, the company’s oral non-opioid pain medication, received Food and Drug Administration approval.

The Food and Drug Administration approved a new type of nonopioid painkiller, Journaxv, or suzetrigine, drugmaker Vertex Pharmaceuticals said.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals won FDA approval for its non-opioid painkiller Journavx. Vertex stock jumped in late trading.