Forest Laboratories and Trevena to co-develop heart failure drug

Forest Laboratories has agreed a new collaboration with Trevena on the development of TRV027, an acute heart failure therapy that recently completed phase IIa testing.

The collaborative licensing option agreement will see both companies allying to assess the AT1R biased-ligand as a therapy for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), with Forest to gain worldwide commercialisation rights to the drug should the studies prove successful.

Under the terms of the deal, Forest will also make a $30 million (19.52 million pounds) equity investment in Trevena, with an executive of Forest Laboratories to join Trevena's board of directors.

David Solomon, Forest's senior vice-president of corporate development and strategic planning, said: "TRV-027 has the potential to be a significant new advance in the treatment of ADHF because it addresses the underlying pathophysiology of the disease, which has been demonstrated in preclinical and early clinical work by Trevena."

Earlier this month, the company announced positive data from the second pivotal phase III trial for a new combination therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease it is developing alongside Almirall.