Good morning from Pharma and Biotech daily: the podcast that gives you only what's important to hear in Pharma and Biotech world.Novartis plans to continue making bolt-on deals in 2025 after a successful year in 2024. AbbVie is regrouping after a mid-stage schizophrenia drug failure. Vertex's non-opioid pain drug has been approved by the FDA. Biotechs are turning to the courts to fight off potential buyers. Other news includes drug pricing under Trump, RFK Jr.'s scrutiny over vaccines, Blackstone's new fund for life sciences, and layoffs at various companies.The FDA has approved Vertex's Journavx (suzetrigine) as the first non-opioid pain signal inhibitor in over two decades. This drug offers patients a non-opioid option for managing acute pain by targeting and binding to the nav1.8 voltage-gated sodium channel. The approval of Journavx comes after Vertex's $7.4 billion opioid settlement and is part of a new wave of medicines aiming to provide effective pain relief without the risks associated with opioids. The FDA's decision was based on positive results from Phase III trials, showing significant improvements in pain scores for patients who had undergone bunionectomy and tummy tuck surgeries. This approval marks a milestone in the development of new pain medications and signals a potential shift towards safer alternatives to opioids for pain management.