Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. surged ahead of Friday’s market open after the Food and Drug Administration approved the company’s non-opioid pain treatment.

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

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals' drug to treat acute pain, the health regulator said on Thursday, offering a first-of-its-kind alternative to addictive opioid painkillers that have fueled a national crisis.