PharmNovo raises €3.5M for phase 2 pain trial

Why it matters: PharmNovo is trying to revive a long-standing but clinically difficult idea: relieving severe pain through the delta opioid receptor rather than the mu receptor targeted by conventional opioids. The company believes this could retain opioid-like pain relief while reducing risks including respiratory depression, physical dependence, constipation and abuse.

Zoom in: The financing was announced by the company’s existing investor, KDventures, which also participated in this round. No other investors were mentioned, but KDventures explained that this round was completed at a lower valuation than the company’s previous round.

What’s next: The proceeds form part of the funding needed for a Phase 2 study of PN6047, expected to begin in the second half of 2026. PharmNovo has already received authorization in Spain for a Phase 2a trial in neuropathic pain. Earlier disclosures said the study was also expected to involve sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Backstory: The candidate has completed a Phase 1 study in healthy volunteers. It was safe and well tolerated at doses predicted to have a clinically relevant effect.

• The company has also reported that PN6047 showed no abuse potential in preclinical models. Separate animal research conducted with Washington University and the University of Michigan indicated that the compound could reduce symptoms associated with withdrawal from conventional opioids.
• PharmNovo is initially focusing on allodynia, where normally harmless stimuli cause pain, and hyperalgesia, an exaggerated response to painful stimuli. Both are common features of neuropathic pain, which can arise from diabetes, shingles, surgery, trauma, cancer or cancer treatment.

The big picture: Non-opioid pain drugs have been a growing focus for the biotech industry since the emergence of the opioid epidemic in the U.S.

• One of the most closely watched approaches targets NaV1.8, a sodium channel found predominantly in peripheral pain-sensing neurons. Vertex validated that mechanism with the 2025 US approval of Journavx, or suzetrigine, for moderate-to-severe acute pain.
• However, success in chronic neuropathic pain is not guaranteed. Suzetrigine produced positive phase 2 results in painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy, but failed to clearly separate from placebo in a separate phase 2 study in lumbosacral radiculopathy.
• Other companies are pursuing NaV1.7 and NaV1.8 inhibitors, potassium-channel modulators and drugs targeting immune or inflammatory pathways involved in chronic pain.