Acute pain is usually caused by injury, surgery, illness, trauma or painful medical procedures and is likely to ease with time.
Around 80 million patients are prescribed a medicine for their moderate-to-severe acute pain every year in the U.S., Vertex said in a release.
Last year, the company's painkiller produced positive results in a mid-stage trial in diabetes patients suffering from a chronic nerve condition.
Those two procedures are commonly used in studies of people with acute pain.
Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said the drug's failure to meet that goal is in line with expectations and that overall, the late-stage trial results released Tuesday are positive.
Persons:
Reshma Kewalramani, painkiller, Michael Yee
Organizations:
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Food and Drug, Wall Street, CRISPR Therapeutics, Jefferies
Locations:
Boston, U.S