FDA approves new non-opioid painkiller

The Street

TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and a new, non-addictive painkiller hits the market.

Transcript

00:00I'm Conway Gittins reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.

00:03Here's what we're watching on the street today.

00:05Wall Street heads into the weekend with modest strength,

00:08and that's no small feat given how the week began.

00:11Apple is giving investor confidence a boost.

00:13The company beat forecasts,

00:15even though quarterly iPhone sales were disappointing.

00:18On the inflation front, the Personal Consumption Expenditures Index,

00:22or PCE, rose in December.

00:24It was up 2.6% from the same time a year ago,

00:27which was in line with forecasts.

00:30Turning to other business headlines

00:32and what is being hailed as a major breakthrough in pain management science,

00:37a new painkiller with blockbuster potential

00:40has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

00:43Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a Boston-based biotech company,

00:46has come up with a safer alternative to opioids.

00:50The approved drug, which goes by the name of Gernavix,

00:53is approved to treat moderate to severe acute pain.

00:56So it will be helpful for those dealing with pain due to sickness,

00:59injury, or the aftermath of surgery.

01:02It is the first new type of painkiller to get FDA approval in more than 20 years.

01:08What makes Gernavix stand out is how different it works compared to opioids.

01:13The drug attacks pain at the source

01:16rather than go directly to the brain to block the feeling of pain.

01:19This means that it does so without creating an addictive feedback mechanism

01:24for the brain like opioids do.

01:26Opioids, though an effective class of drugs,

01:29have been blamed for sparking an epidemic of addiction

01:32and deaths in the hundreds of thousands.

01:35For Vertex CEO Dr. Reshma Q. Alramani,

01:39quote, we have the opportunity to change the paradigm of acute pain management

01:44and establish a new standard of care.

01:47The wholesale price for the twice-daily treatment starts at $15.50 per pill.

01:54That'll do it for your daily briefing from the New York Stock Exchange.

01:57I'm Conway Gittins with The Street.

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