Cara Therapeutics

cara-company-logo
A clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing new chemical entities designed to alleviate pain and pruritus by selectively targeting kappa opioid receptors.

Cara is developing product candidates that target the body’s peripheral nervous system and have demonstrated initial efficacy in patients with moderate-to-severe pain and pruritus, without inducing many of the undesirable side effects typically associated with currently available pain and itch therapeutics.

Its lead candidate, Korsuva (CR845/difelikefalin), is a first-in-class k-opioid receptor agonist that targets the body's peripheral nervous system, as well as certain immune cells.

In a Phase III and Phase II trials, Korsuva injection has demonstrated statistically significant reductions in itch intensity and concomitant improvement in quality of life measures in hemodialysis patients with moderate-to-severe chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus (CKD-aP), and is currently being investigated in Phase III trials in hemodialysis patients with CKD-aP.