The US Food and Drug Administration has successfully approved NeurogesX Inc's Qutenza patch, which has been developed to relieve shingles-related pain.

To treat post herpetic neuralgia, or nerve pain, successfully, the patch uses synthetic capsaicin in very high concentrated doses.

The Qutenza approval has been the first for NeurogesX, a San Mateo, California based pharmaceutical company. "We are delighted to have received the FDA's approval to provide this novel pain management therapy to the many patients and physicians looking for new ways to manage PHN", shared CEO Tony DiTonno.

The company has plans of commercializing the treatment patch, which is capable of providing up-to 12 weeks of reduced pain and can be repeated every three months or more, throughout the US via its own sales force, and is aiming for an initial launch in the coming year's first half.

The approval, which was earlier expected in August, was put off by the FDA in order to better analyze the firm's data collected in a follow up study that was requested by the US drug regulators. Shares of the company surged by 12% post the announcement of the approval to trade at a new high of $9.25.