Vertex's stock climbs as non-opioid pain treatment advances

By Eleanor Laise

Biotech company signals progress in closely watched effort to develop non-addictive painkillers

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares gained ground early Thursday after the company signaled progress in the development of its experimental non-opioid pain treatment.

The Boston-based biotech company said it is on track to complete a regulatory submission for the closely watched drug, suzetrigine, in moderate to severe acute pain in the second quarter.

Vertex is also set to launch Phase 3 trials of the drug in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy, a type of nerve damage, in the second half of this year, the company said in a release. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has deemed suzetrigine a breakthrough therapy for that condition, Vertex said, a designation that helps speed the development of drugs that treat serious conditions and have the potential to substantially improve on available treatments.

Drugmakers have been looking to create a new class of medicines that can relieve pain and provide an effective alternative to opioids, the highly addictive painkillers. About 80 million patients a year need medications for acute pain. But nearly 280,000 people died in the U.S. from overdoses involving prescription opioids from 1999 through 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vertex shares surged late last year after the company said suzetrigine, also known as VX-548, meaningfully reduced pain in a Phase 2 trial in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

But Phase 3 trial results of the drug in moderate to severe acute pain released by Vertex in January were not all good news. While the drug significantly relieved pain, compared to a placebo, for patients who had a tummy tuck or bunion surgery, it did not deliver better results than a combination of acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone.

Vertex is also enrolling participants in a Phase 2 study of suzetrigine in lumbosacral radiculopathy, a painful condition caused by compression or irritation of the lower back's nerve roots. That enrollment is set to be completed by the end of the year, the company said.

The company is also working on another next-generation pain treatment, VX-993, set to enter Phase 2 studies for acute pain and peripheral neuropathic pain later this year.

Vertex shares gained 0.7% premarket on Thursday and are down 3.4% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 5.3%.

-Eleanor Laise

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04-18-24 0859ET

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