FDA Approves drug to treat pain without opioid effects

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/health/fda-journavx-suzetrigine-vertex-opioids.html

by remh • 1 year ago

53 32 1 year ago

nytimes.com

BugsJustFindMe• 1 year ago

There's no reason for this to be a NYT link.

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-appr...

dewitt• 1 year ago

"There's no reason for this to be a NYT link."

I respectfully disagree. The NYT paid the author, Gina Kolata, to research and write the story, which contains more details than just the press release alone, then used their platform to made the news widely available and thus helped people like me discover it.

As cynical as one may be about the state of contemporary journalism, I'd say that short articles like this are still something good that comes out of newspapers in 2025, and I hope it doesn't go away just yet.

giarc• 1 year ago

For those without a NYT subscription, a link to the press release is handy.

whamlastxmas• 1 year ago

Journalism on science and medicine gets more things wrong than right.

benrapscallion• 1 year ago

Given how late in the article it is mentioned that the drug was indistinguishable from placebo, this NYT article may well have been commissioned by Vertex.

[1] https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/pain-comes-territo...

Dalewyn• 1 year ago

Middlemen like town criers and nowadays "journalists" were useful when distributing information en masse quickly was a tremendous if not next to impossible logistical challenge.

Today when anyone can get information straight from the source instantly, we do not need these middlemen. There is no reason for this to be an NYT link, nor any other middleman link.

The less players there are in the game of telephone the more accurate the information will be.

unethical_ban2• 1 year ago

There is a lot more information and background for the layperson in the NYT article. But free sources should also be included for those without a subscription.

photochemsyn• 1 year ago

(2024) "Pharmacology and Mechanism of Action of Suzetrigine, a Potent and Selective NaV1.8 Pain Signal Inhibitor for the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Pain" (pdf)

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s40122-024-006...

eviks• 1 year ago

There is at least one: in its quest to promote the agency they forgot to list the most basic issue that makes this approval noteworthy - addiction. Also there is no price and a bunch of other relevant info

luafox• 1 year ago

Super exciting development in the world of medicine, but the price tag is really steep. Starting at US$15.50 per pill, and you're supposed to take two pills at a time. Many will opt for cheaper options.

Disclaimer: I'm Canadian with extended insurance, so I have little perspective on drug prices.

unethical_ban2• 1 year ago

If it means staying away from addiction, I'll pay it. Opiods would scare me if I ever needed that level of pain treatment.

codr7• 1 year ago

They should, synthethic opioids are VERY enjoyable, VERY risky and SUPER addictive.

I was on Oxy 24/7 for a month following surgery, went through hell.

ArlenBales• 1 year ago

This is to treat acute pain, probably mostly post-op as alternative to opioids. At most you'll probably get a week's worth of pills from your doc post-op, and I would say the cost is worth it if it works better than NSAIDs and it's not addictive.

zamadatix• 1 year ago

Can this be taken alongside NSAIDs? If so it might not even need to be that great to still be worthwhile for that first week after an operation.

joe_the_user• 1 year ago

"It's worth it" isn't an answer to "drug prices are systematically inflated so many cannot afford them regardless.

bookofjoe• 1 year ago

My Armodafinil Rx cost $35/pill — not covered by insurance.

montroser• 1 year ago

This sounds fantastic. It is also worth remembering they also told us oxycodone was non habit forming. But hey, let's be cautiously optimistic.

loloquwowndueo• 1 year ago

Hey originally they said cocaine was not addictive :)

el_duderino• 1 year ago

https://archive.is/SIV8R

rufus_foreman• 1 year ago

> drug to treat pain without opioid effects

From my brief experience with junkies, they will treat this as a challenge.

bustling-noose• 1 year ago

How does one give someone a placebo after surgery for clinical trials ? Wouldn’t that cause a lot of pain ? I know science and research and trials and all etc etc, but pain post surgery is quite a lot that placebo alone would be really bad for the patient.

jjeaff• 1 year ago

one would assume that it was tested on minor surgeries.

instagib• 1 year ago

>suzetrigine helped those with diabetic neuropathy, but was no better than placebo in those with pinched spinal nerves. (…) While analysts and researchers deemed the results disappointing in patients with pinched nerves in their spines, the company decided to proceed because there are no approved drugs for the painful condition, and because the drug is safe and “the mechanism of action is so clearly validated.”

“No one has ever helped these four million people,” he said. <<

Aside from routinely burning the nerves, routine epidural injections, narcotics, or alcohol.

Extremely limited relief from expensive acupuncture, massage, TENS, stretching, etc.

oliwarner• 1 year ago

Note that there is a fairly long list of CYP3A4 inhibitors that this is contraindicated against. I know nothing is, but this won't be for everyone.

FDA Approves drug to treat pain without opioid effects

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