Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. gained US approval for the first new type of painkiller in more than two decades, paving the way for a safer alternative to addictive opioids that have been linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

The drug, Journavx by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, blocks pain signals to the brain, making it nonaddictive. The Food and Drug Administration approved a new medication Thursday to treat pain from an injury or surgery. It is expensive, with a list price of $15.50 per pill. But unlike opioid pain medicines, it cannot become addictive.

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.

The FDA’s nod for suzetrigine bolsters confidence in the pharmaceutical industry’s strategy to target sodium channels.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Journavx for short-term pain that often follows surgery or injuries. It’s the first new pharmaceutical approach to treating pain in more than 20 years,

It was given to people who had acute surgical pain from either abdominoplasty, also known as a tummy tuck, or bunion surgery.

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

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved a new type of prescription pain medication for adults to treat moderate to severe acute pain. The drug, called Journavx (suzetrigine) and manufactured by biotech company Vertex Pharmaceuticals,

Despite high demand for an option like Journavx, doctors fear the drug’s price could be a major hangup for insurers, potentially limiting patients’ ability to access it.