The US Food and Drug Administration signed off Thursday on the first new type of pain reliever to be approved in more than two decades. The drug, suzetrigine, is a 50-milligram prescription pill that’s taken every 12 hours after a larger starter dose.

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

The drug, shown to be almost as effective as opioids for short-term pain, is the first fundamentally new kind of painkiller to win FDA approval in more than 20 years.