Journavx is the first and only approved non-opioid oral painkiller and the first new class of pain medicine approved in more than 20 years.

The drug, shown to be almost as effective as opioids for short-term pain, is the first fundamentally new kind of painkiller to win FDA approval in more than 20 years.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals' drug to treat acute pain, the health regulator said on Thursday, offering a first-of-its-kind alternative to addictive opioid painkillers that have fueled a national crisis.