Vertex Says 20,000 Prescriptions Filled for Non-Opioid Pain Drug

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said more than 20,000 prescriptions have been dispensed for its new non-addictive painkiller, a sign that the drug is gaining some early traction as it attempts to displace opioids.

The company disclosed the prescription tally in its earnings release Monday. It includes both hospital and retail settings from when the drug, Journavx, became available in early March through April 18. Vertex said revenue from the medicine was “insignificant” in the first quarter.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman called the early numbers “a good start,” but he noted that the company appears to be giving much of the drug away for free while it secures wider insurance coverage. Seigerman doesn’t expect much revenue from Journavx this quarter or next.

Shares of Vertex fell 3% at 5:32 p.m. in extended New York trading. First-quarter adjusted earnings per share and net product revenue trailed analyst estimates.

Vertex said on the earnings call that sales of Journavx would take time as the company secures more coverage and scales back support programs that help patients avoid out-of-pocket costs.

Journavx got US regulatory clearance in January as the first new type of painkiller to reach the US market in more than two decades. The company has positioned the pill as a safer alternative to addictive opioids that have been linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Boston-based Vertex faces the challenge of persuading insurers to cover a drug that’s far more expensive than opioids. The wholesale cost for Vertex’s twice-daily medicine is set at $15.50 per 50 milligram tablet. A commonly prescribed combination of an opioid and Tylenol costs about 5% of that.

Health insurers often require patients to pay a higher copay for a branded drug and try a cheaper generic first, a practice known as step therapy. Vertex said as of May 1, it had secured insurance coverage for the drug for about 94 million people, including about 42 million who don’t need prior authorization or step therapy.

The company said in March that Journavx was added to insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s approved drug lists but at a higher tier than other treatment options, meaning it can cost more money.