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 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.

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.

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.

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

The Food and Drug Administration approved a new type of nonopioid painkiller, Journaxv, or suzetrigine, drugmaker Vertex Pharmaceuticals said.

The Vertex drug is a milestone after a long history of unsuccessful efforts to develop painkillers without the addictive potential of opioids.