Procyrion said this week that it closed a $30 million Series D round for its Aortix percutaneous blood pump.

The Aortix blood pump is designed to treat patients with heart failure and worsening kidney function. The pump is thinner than a pencil and can be placed in less than 10 minutes during a cath-lab procedure. Aortix is placed in the descending thoracic aorta between the heart and renal arteries.

“Of the more than 1 million patients per year in the U.S. admitted to the hospital with acute decompensated heart failure, 25-30% also have worsening renal function. These are typically the most difficult to treat patients with high mortality and rehospitalization rates. Today there is a major gap in effective therapies that are available to treat these critically ill patients, and as such, there is a significant opportunity to improve patient outcomes,” president and CEO Eric Fain said in a press release. “The Aortix device is uniquely designed and positioned in the body to simultaneously decrease the workload of the heart and improve kidney function. These funds will allow us to make significant advances in our program, in particular, allowing us to assess the Aortix system’s ability to decongest cardiorenal patients in our pilot study.”

The financing round was led by Bluebird Ventures.

“The Procyrion Aortix device provides an elegant solution for managing heart failure, a serious and difficult-to-treat problem,” managing director of Bluebird Ventures Jeff Bird said. “We are excited to work with this experienced team as they begin clinical testing.”

Procyrion previously raised $16 million in a Series C round of financing in 2018 for the Aortix intra-aortic heart pump.