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 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.

Vertex has gained the FDA's approval for its non-addictive pain med Journavx, which becomes the first significant innovation in pain relief in more than two decades.