After you’ve had surgery or experienced a serious physical injury, you are more than likely going to be in a lot of pain. No matter what your pain tolerance is, recovering from surgery or any physical trauma to the body can be an extremely painful experience.
To manage this pain, many Americans are often prescribed opioids, most commonly oxycodone (such as OxyContin and Percocet) and hydrocodone (such as Vicodin). However, these prescription painkillers, which stimulate the brain’s reward centers and produce a euphoric feeling, are highly addictive. In fact, an estimated 3% to 19% of people who take prescription pain medications develop an addiction to them, according to research.
As a result, the need for nonaddictive substances is more important than ever before. Enter: Journavx, the first pain medication of its kind approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in 25 years.
[READ: Understanding the Impact of Health Conditions and Medications on Seniors]
What Is Journavx?
Journavx (suzetrigine) is a new nonopioid medication manufactured by Vertex Pharmaceuticals to help treat and manage moderate to severe acute pain.
While opioids work by attaching to special receptors in the brain to block pain signals, Journavx blocks a specific sodium channel on peripheral nerves (known as NaV1.8) to prevent pain signals from reaching the brain in the first place.
“The FDA approval of suzetrigine (Journavx) opens the door to a new class of oral systemic medications for patients who suffer from acute pain, including pain after surgery,” says Dr. Edward Mariano, professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Mariano says this new option sits among the same class of drugs as acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen.
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Benefits of Journavx
This drug can be a game-changer for anyone who is undergoing surgery and older adults, but especially those who have a history of addiction.
“This drug could minimize and, in some cases, eliminate the need for opioids,” says Dr. Seth Waldman, an anesthesiologist and former director of the pain management division at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. “It appears to be much safer and will be a welcome addition to current techniques which we use to minimize exposure to opioids.”
Waldman is hopeful that this drug can help certain people manage their chronic pain, specifically, pain caused by a disease or injury of the somatosensory nervous system, which are nerves that help your body detect when something is hot or cold to touch. This type of pain is known as chronic neuropathic pain, which often affects people with diabetic neuropathy.
“This new selective drug has real promise that, in the future, we will be able to treat peripheral nerve pain without the side effects,” Waldman says
[READ: Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Nerve Pain. ]
Potential Risks and Side Effects of Journavx
So far, all we know are the side effects currently provided by the company. These are listed on the drug’s packaging and include:
— Pruritus (skin itching)
— Muscle spasms
— Increased blood level of creatine phosphokinase
— Rash
“Many different medications work on sodium channel receptors, such as local anesthetics, heart arrhythmia medications and epilepsy medications,” Waldman says. “The drawback of these drugs is that they also act on the central nervous system, and as a result, they can produce side effects, such as sedation, seizures and arrhythmias.”
Interestingly, the specific sodium channel receptor suzetrigine acts on is only present in the peripheral nervous system, so it shouldn’t produce any of the most serious negative effects that opioids produce, including addiction, sedation and reduced respiratory function.
So far, no serious reactions have occurred.
Who shouldn’t take Journavx?
People with liver disease should not use Journaux. It is unclear whether this drug is safe for pregnant people to take.
In addition, people taking certain drugs should avoid taking Journavx.
Medications that could have negative drug interactions with Journavx or may become less effective when taking the drug include:
— Anticonvulsants, often used to treat epilepsy and other seizure disorders
— Antifungal medications, which treat athlete’s foot and yeast infections could negatively interact with Journavx
— Hormonal birth control medications that contains progestins other than levonorgestrel or norethindrone
Essentially, you just need to make sure with your prescriber that no other drugs you’re taking can interfere with its absorption.
[Read: 20 Drug Interactions You Should Know About]
How Much Does Journavx Cost?
Right now, the manufacturer of the drug lists the wholesale cost of $15.50 per 50-milligram pill. Because it’s often prescribed twice daily, that could be as much as $31 per day.
That’s high in price compared to older generic opioids such as oxycodone, but it’s not a fair apples-to-apples comparison.
“It’s difficult to compare this to older medications because of its novel mechanism of action,” Waldman says.
Total cost of the prescription drug may vary from person to person based on various factors, including insurance coverage and access to the drug.
Bottom Line
Pain management specialists are hopeful this drug will decrease reliance on opioid prescription, but it’s too early to be certain.
“While there is a lot of well-deserved excitement about this drug, time, further research and experience will tell,” Waldman says. “I think this will likely positively impact acute pain treatment, and I hope that this drug — or similar nonopioid drugs in the future — will be useful for chronic pain.”
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Journavx: What to Know About the New Nonopioid Painkiller originally appeared on usnews.com
