A sign hangs in front of the world headquarters of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Boston on Oct. 23, 2019. Vertex Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday said its experimental painkiller, which is being tested as an alternative to addictive opioids, significantly decreased post-surgery pain in late-stage trials The drug, known as VX-548, did not work better than a popular opioid, however. Still, the trial results bring the biotech company one step closer to developing a drug that can provide strong pain relief without the ad ...