Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved suzetrigine, the first in a new class of drugs that promised pain relief approaching that of opioid pills without those concerns. Many expected to see even more powerful drugs emerge from this class of agents, known as Nav1.8 inhibitors, which block sodium channels on pain-sensing neurons to quell their activity. But efforts to improve on suzetrigine—which has been shown to offer consistent but moderate effects on acute pain—have not produced stronger relief. Recent research has aimed to explain what seems to be a ceiling to the drugs' benefits, and to get a better handle on their real-world limits. Learn more: scim.ag/45NaH0h @NewsfromScience