Vertex Pharmaceuticals of Boston announced Tuesday that it had developed an experimental drug that relieves moderate to severe pain, blocking pain signals before they can get to the brain. It works only on peripheral nerves — those outside the brain and the spinal cord — making it unlike opioids. Vertex says its new drug is expected to avoid opioids’ potential to lead to addiction.
The company reported that it had completed two randomized studies, the first in 1,118 people who had abdominoplasties and the other in 1,073 people who had bunion surgery. The two procedures are commonly used in studies of people with acute pain, the temporary kind that is brought on by something like a surgical procedure and is likely to ease with time.
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Dr. Henry Kranzler, professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Studies of Addiction at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, called the drug “a therapeutic breakthrough.”
He said its development was based on a strong body of science and, at least for acute pain, “it looks very promising” with an efficacy that, while not better than the opioid oxycodone, also is not worse.
“This has the potential to be a blockbuster,” said Dr. Stephen Waxman, a professor of neurology, neuroscience and pharmacology at Yale.