Trevena grabs $35M to fund trials of heart-failure drug

Trevena Inc. has landed a sizable $35 million Series B round that it hopes will push its lead heart-failure drug through Phase 2 clinical trials.

The funding was led by venture heavyweights and existing investors Polaris Venture Partners and New Enterprise Associates. Other previous investors — Alta Partners, Healthcare Ventures and Yasuda Enterprise Development Company — also participated, according to a statement from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based Trevena.

The company’s lead molecule, TRV120027, targets a receptor that plays a central role in the pathophysiology of heart failure.

Trevena’s primary therapeutic areas of interest are cardiovascular disease, pain and inflammation, according to the statement.

Trevena CEO Maxine Gowen is a former leader of GlaxoSmithKline’s venture arm and cautiously acknowledged the obvious to FierceBiotech in saying that if the company’s drug looks promising, “there is a possibility that a larger company would see it as a great acquisition prospect.”

The Pennsylvania company pulled in a $24 million Series A round in 2008.