BOSTON — September 15, 2026
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced a partnership with world champion skier Lindsey Vonn to raise awareness of JOURNAVX® (suzetrigine), its prescription non-opioid medicine approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acute pain in adults. Vonn is sharing her experience with JOURNAVX following a serious crash during her downhill race at the 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina, which resulted in multiple injuries, surgery and additional procedures. According to the company, JOURNAVX has been prescribed to more than one million Americans since receiving U.S. FDA approval in January 2025. The partnership forms part of Vertex’s broader effort to increase awareness of an alternative approach to acute pain management, with Vonn discussing her personal treatment experience and encouraging patients to have conversations with healthcare professionals about available options. Vertex said the initiative is intended to help broaden understanding of JOURNAVX among patients and healthcare providers.
JOURNAVX Offers a Non-Opioid Approach to Acute Pain
JOURNAVX is an oral, first-in-class, non-opioid pain medicine that selectively inhibits the NaV1.8 sodium channel involved in peripheral pain signaling. NaV1.8 is expressed in peripheral pain-sensing neurons, or nociceptors, where it contributes to transmission of pain signals. By targeting this pathway outside the brain, JOURNAVX is designed to provide acute pain relief without directly acting on central opioid receptors. The medicine was approved by the U.S. FDA on January 30, 2025, for adults with moderate-to-severe acute pain, including postoperative pain. Vertex is positioning the therapy as a new pharmacological option in a market where opioids remain widely used for acute pain. The company’s awareness campaign highlights the availability of a prescription non-opioid treatment while emphasizing that individual treatment decisions should be made between patients and healthcare professionals. JOURNAVX carries important prescribing considerations, including contraindication with strong CYP3A inhibitors and dosage considerations with certain CYP3A inhibitors and other interacting medicines.
Vertex Expands Commercial Education Around Pain Management
The partnership with Lindsey Vonn adds a high-profile patient-experience component to Vertex’s commercial education strategy for JOURNAVX. Vonn has described using JOURNAVX after initially receiving opioids following her injury and said the medicine was also used when postoperative complications resulted in more intense pain. Her experience is being incorporated into the campaign to encourage discussions around non-opioid acute pain options. Vertex cited an estimated 80 million U.S. adults receiving medication for acute pain each year, with approximately half still receiving an opioid. The company’s initiative therefore focuses on increasing awareness of the treatment options available to patients experiencing moderate-to-severe acute pain. Alongside patient-facing awareness, Vertex provides healthcare professionals with dedicated information regarding JOURNAVX, including its indication, mechanism, dosing considerations and safety information. The campaign represents a broader commercial effort to establish understanding of a relatively new class of acute pain medicine following the product’s 2025 regulatory approval.
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JOURNAVX Strengthens Vertex’s Commercial Portfolio
JOURNAVX represents an important expansion of Vertex’s commercial portfolio beyond its established specialty medicines and into acute pain management. Vertex is a global biotechnology company with approved therapies spanning cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia, acute pain and acromegaly, alongside a pipeline covering multiple serious diseases. The company continues to develop investigational programs in areas including neuropathic pain, kidney diseases, type 1 diabetes, generalized myasthenia gravis and myotonic dystrophy type 1. Within pain management, JOURNAVX provides Vertex with a commercial platform built around selective peripheral pain signaling rather than opioid mechanisms. The Lindsey Vonn partnership is designed to support broader awareness of JOURNAVX as Vertex continues building the medicine’s presence in the U.S. acute pain market and educating patients and healthcare professionals about non-opioid treatment options.
Source: Vertex Pharmaceuticals, press release
