Cloud-based patient-direct platform ixlayer has launched a platform designed to help patients find care and treatment for acute pain.
The platform, called Informed Pain Care, allows patients to connect virtually with qualified clinicians. We also provide symptom-based dosing, eligibility screening and, if needed, access to prescription treatment options, including non-opioid options, and pharmacy assistance. The company says informed care offers both insurance and self-pay pathways.
The platform was built in collaboration with biopharmaceutical company Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which launched the non-opioid painkiller Journavx in early 2025. This drug is approved to treat moderate to severe acute pain.
The platform aims to make acute pain care “more accessible, simpler and more patient-friendly,” Pouria Sanae, CEO and co-founder of ixlayer, told Fierce Healthcare. Sanae said current efforts to treat acute pain “can be very fragmented.”
“The goal of the Informed Pain Care Platform is to help bridge that gap by providing patients with a direct digital pathway to connect with licensed, independent healthcare professionals,” Sanae said. “Patients can be evaluated by a medical professional and, if appropriate, treated on the same day and seen by a medical professional.”
Sanae said licensed clinicians are independent and are not incentivized to prescribe specific drugs.
“Their actual responsibility is to assess the patient, follow clinical protocols and make independent medical decisions based on what they think is appropriate,” he said.
“We are proud to partner with ixlayer to build and launch Informed Pain Care, our first direct-to-patient telemedicine platform,” said Duncan McKenney, executive vice president and chief commercial officer of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, in a statement. “This platform reflects our commitment to providing eligible non-surgical acute pain patients with independent telehealth assessments and ensuring access to innovative non-opioid medications.”
Sanae said the two companies have a “common goal” of improving access and simplifying patient movement.
“Our role is to provide the technology infrastructure that makes the patient journey simpler and increases the path of least resistance for patients,” Sanae said. “…Vertex brings patient education upstream (and) to outreach, allowing us to not only educate our patients, but provide them with different care pathway options in this process.”
