Biotech Stock Rises After FDA Approves Non-Opioid Painkiller

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX) stock is up 6% at $465.02 at last glance, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the biotech's new non-opioid painkiller, Journavx. In a statement to the press, the company said it was the "first new class of pain treatment approved in more than 20 years." In response, Scotiabank raised its price target on VRTX by $3 to $433. 

Now recovered from its mid-December bear gap, VRTX is already up 15.7% since the start of 2025. Today's pop has the stock breaking back above the 250-day moving average, which provided support prior to last month's pullback, and recently acted as pressure. 

Options traders are chiming in straight out of the gate, with 8,427 calls and 2,690 puts exchanged so far -- 6 times the volume typically seen at this point. Expiring today, the weekly 1/31 417.50-strike put is the most popular, with new positions being sold to open there. 

Today's trading shows a shift in sentiment, as puts were more popular than usual over the last 10 weeks. This is per VRTX's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 1.18 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which ranks higher than 89% of readings from the past year.