Vertex picks a horse in race for opioid painkiller replacement

Vertex picks a horse in race for opioid painkiller replacement

Source: 
Fierce Biotech
snippet: 

A candidate has emerged as a front-runner in Vertex’s quest for the perfect non-opioid pain drug.

The Boston-based biotech says its selective NaV1.8 inhibitor VX-548 will now push on to a midstage test after a successful phase 1 safety trial. The new study will assess the drug in patients with acute pain after bunionectomy surgery or abdominoplasty. The goal will be to reduce pain intensity over 48 hours of treatment.

Vertex is searching for a new pain drug that can provide relief to patients without the addictive properties and other side effects of opioid painkillers. The company is set on the NaV1.8 approach, a channel that is believed to play a critical role in pain signaling in the nervous system.Vet