Cara Therapeutics Secures $19 Million in Series C Financing.TARRYTOWN, N.Y., Nov. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Cara Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that it had closed on $19 million of its Series C financing. New investors participating in the round include MVM MVM Merck Veterinary Manual MVM Minute Virus of Mice MVM Market Value Margin MVM Matrix-Vector Multiplication MVM Most Valuable Member MVM MetroCard Vending Machine (NYC transit) MVM Maharishi Vidya Mandir Life Science Partners and Alta Biopharma Partners, as well as previous investors Ascent Biomedical bi·o·med·i·cal adj. 1. Of or relating to biomedicine. 2. Of, relating to, or involving biological, medical, and physical sciences. Ventures. In conjunction with the financing, Dr. Stephen Reeders, Managing Partner of MVM Life Science Partners, and Ed Hurwitz, Director of Alta Partners, will join Cara's Board of Directors. "I am very pleased with the outstanding group of international investors we have attracted to participate in Cara's Series C financing and look forward to working with them to advance our internal drug development pipeline", said Dr. Derek Chalmers, President & CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Cara Therapeutics. "Combined with cash already on-hand, this financing provides Cara with operating capital through 2008 and provides the runway necessary to advance our next two drug candidates into the clinic," he added. Dr. Stephen Reeders commented "Over the last twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. there has been little innovation in treating pain. There is a big gap in the choices available to clinicians between moderately efficacious OTC OTC See: Over-the-counter. OTC See over-the-counter market (OTC). analgesics and centrally acting opiates with serious side effects. We believe that Cara Therapeutics is developing novel drugs to fill this gap." "We are extremely excited about Cara's focus in pain and inflammation where major advances have been lacking for several decades," commented Ed Hurwitz of Alta Partners. "The company's truly differentiated kappa agonist, which is being tested in proof of concept studies, has the chance to substantially change the treatment options for acute and chronic pain sufferers. We found this opportunity along with the company's rapidly advancing programs on exciting novel pain and inflammation targets to be a compelling investment opportunity," added Hurwitz. On January 5th of this year, Cara announced that it had entered into a worldwide licensing agreement with ALZA Corporation, a Johnson & Johnson company, for Cara's novel peripherally-acting pain drug candidate, CR665. Under the terms of that agreement, Cara received an upfront payment and is eligible to receive pre-determined clinical and regulatory milestone payments. Cara is also eligible to receive royalties on sales of all marketed products incorporating the compound, as well as an option to co-promote intravenous products in the U.S. About CR665 CR665 is the lead clinical development candidate from a series of highly selective peripheral kappa opioid receptor The κ-Opioid receptors are a class of opioid receptors with dynorphins as the primary endogenous ligands, and ketazocine as a potent selective exogenous ligand. There are three variants: κ1, κ2, and κ3. agonists. In preclinical studies, CR665 was highly selective for the peripheral kappa opioid receptor. Preclinical animal studies suggest that CR665 is a potent analgesic analgesic (ăn'əljē`zĭk), any of a diverse group of drugs used to relieve pain. Analgesic drugs include the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as the salicylates, narcotic drugs such as morphine, and synthetic drugs compound. In addition, unlike currently marketed opioids, CR665 does not produce inhibition of intestinal transit (ileus Ileus Definition Ileus is a partial or complete non-mechanical blockage of the small and/or large intestine. The term "ileus" comes from the Latin word for colic. ), induce respiratory depression, or elicit signs of euphoria or addiction in animal models. Preclinical studies also indicate that CR665 possesses anti-inflammatory activities. A completed Phase 1a study of intravenous CR665 in healthy men and women indicated that the drug candidate was safe, well tolerated, and exhibited predictable pharmacokinetic characteristics. In addition, this study demonstrated plasma levels of CR665 associated with analgesic effects in preclinical studies, as well as biomarker evidence of peripheral kappa opioid receptor activation in both men and women. About Cara Therapeutics Cara Therapeutics is a privately held biotechnology company, originally seeded by Esperante Ventures, focused on developing novel, superior therapeutics to treat pain and inflammation associated with diverse medical conditions. Cara's current pipeline includes near-term clinical drug candidates within multiple classes of peripherally-acting analgesics. Cara also plans to develop entirely novel classes of analgesics that emerge from its proprietary DimerScreen(TM) technology. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements include statements relating to the therapeutic applications of CR665 and about Cara's strategy, technologies, pre-clinical and clinical programs, and ability to identify and develop drugs, as well as other statements that are not historical facts. Actual events or results may differ materially from Cara's expectations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the timing, success and cost of Cara's research and clinical studies and Cara's ability to obtain additional financing. These forward- looking statements represent Cara's judgment as of the date of this release. Cara disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. CONTACT: Derek Chalmers, President & CEO of Cara Therapeutics, +1-914-347-4040, Ext. 201 |
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