The FDA has approved Journavx, an oral medication for treating pain that doesn't target the brain like addictive opioids.

The FDA on Thursday approved a new class of pain medication that provides an alternative to opioids. It will be sold under the brand name Journavx.

The drug, suzetrigine, will be sold under the brand name Journavx and is the first new class of pain medicine approved in more than 20 years.

Each year, about 125 million opioid prescriptions are written for Americans with pain caused by broken bones, burns, surgeries, and other injuries and procedures.

Suzetrigine, to be sold under the brand name Journavx, is the first new type of pain medicine approved by the FDA in more than two decades. It works by stopping nerve cells from sending pain signals to the brain.

The prescription pills, sold under the brand name Journavx and made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, are taken twice a day and represent the first new class of pain medications in 20 years—and the first non-opioid painkiller since that class first appeared on the market in the 1980s.

A non-opioid pain medication made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals has received approval for adults from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals rose after Journavx, the company’s oral non-opioid pain medication, received Food and Drug Administration approval.