Vertex’s new pain drug gets first coverage nod from major insurer

Vertex’s new pain drug gets first coverage nod from major insurer

Optum, the pharmacy benefit manager owned by UnitedHealth Group, placed Journavx on some of its commercial formularies in an interim decision while a formal review continues.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new drug to relieve severe pain. Importantly for the United States and the rest of the world, suzetrigin, sold under the trade name Journavx, does not act on the same principle as opioids. By the way, a non-opiate pain medication last time in the US...

FDA approves game-changing non-opioid pain reliever – Boston University News Service

The Journavx bottle that will soon hit the market. Photo Courtesy of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. By Shira Levy Boston University News Service The FDA approved a groundbreaking new pain reliever in January, marking the first new class of pain medication in years.  The drug, called Suzetrigine, marketed as Journavx, is a non-opioid alternative that targets the voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.8, a key player in transmitting pain signals.…