JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
A new kind of pain medication has been approved for sale by the Food and Drug Administration. It is being touted as an alternative to opioids. It works differently, and it is not addictive. NPR's Yuki Noguchi is here to explain. Hi there.
YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: So, Yuki, tell me, how big of a deal is it that this new pain drug is coming into the market?
NOGUCHI: What makes it a big deal is that it's this brand-new alternative and one that's nonaddictive, right? There aren't actually that many options to treat acute pain from, like, you know, after surgery or breaking your arm, for example. And opioids are, of course, very effective for pain but can also be quite addictive. And over-the-counter pills, like ibuprofen or acetaminophen, aren't addictive, but they come with their own potential side effects on the liver or stomach, you know? So drugmakers have been searching for other options to manage pain. And Stuart Arbuckle, who's executive vice president for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which makes this new drug called Journavx - his company has spent two decades developing it. And it works basically by blocking pain signals from the place in your body where you're hurt.
STUART ARBUCKLE: They inhibit the signal being transmitted to the brain. Other medicines like opioids, for instance, work in the brain.
NOGUCHI: And he says that's the big difference. You know, this new drug acts on the body without chemically sort of monkeying with your brain, so it sidesteps the risk of addiction.
SUMMERS: OK, got it. But here's a question I have, Yuki. Many people have already become dependent on opioids that have been prescribed by their doctor. So this development - how would this new drug make a difference for them?
NOGUCHI: Yeah, I mean, this would be a safer alternative. Anesthesiologist Antje Barreveld worries about addiction all the time. You know, she's chief of pain management at Newton-Wellesley Hospital outside Boston. And, you know, she says it's a difficult balancing act all the time, you know, managing a patient who's in pain against making sure that they don't get dependent on the drug. And so she's seen, you know, patients go down that path.
ANTJE BARREVELD: Nearly 80% of people who have an opioid addiction started with a prescription opioid. It only takes one prescription.
NOGUCHI: You know, so if you're one of these people who is high - at high risk of addiction, say, or someone who's in recovery, this new drug could be very, very helpful. And also some of Barreveld's chronic pain patients, you know, develop liver problems or stomach ulcers from, like, ibuprofen or acetaminophen. And Barreveld says - thinks the demand for this new drug will also come from those people because, you know, it doesn't have those side effects.
BARREVELD: I even had one patient today send me the article about this medication and said, sign me up, Doc.
SUMMERS: I do want to ask you, Yuki, about side effects. Are there downsides to this medication?
NOGUCHI: Yeah, so in clinical trials, the side effects were pretty mild. They included things like itchiness, rash, muscle spasms. I think the far more significant issue for some might be that this is not a very, very strong painkiller. Journavx doesn't relieve pain with the same effectiveness as, you know, high doses of opioids, so that might make it a problem for people with more serious pain.
And then there's the issue of cost. You know, it's a new branded drug, which means it's expensive, especially compared to, you know, a bottle of ibuprofen. I mean, its list price for a day's treatment comes to $31, you know, whereas generic ibuprofen costs pennies. So the big question is whether insurance companies will cover this costlier alternative and for whom and, you know, under what circumstances. But given how the new pill, you know, could lower the risk of addiction and other side effects, you know, this - there's still likely going to be patients who want it.
SUMMERS: That is NPR's Yuki Noguchi. Thank you so much.
NOGUCHI: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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