Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved JOURNAVX, an oral, non-opioid, highly selective NaV1.8 pain signal inhibitor

Vertex has attracted interest from Wall Street for its ambitious drug pipeline that involves winning FDA approval for multiple drugs across several forms of chronic pain, which generally represents a bigger financial opportunity than acute pain.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals could soon capture $10 billion in sales of non-opioid painkillers, an analyst said Friday as Vertex stock jumped.