Cara Therapeutics Secures $15 Million Series D Financing to Continue Clinical Development of CR845

SHELTON, Conn., July 21 /PRNewswire/ — Cara Therapeutics,
Inc. announced today that it had closed on a Series D financing of
$15 million.  The round was led
by new investor, Rho Ventures, with participation from previous
investors Alta Biopharma, Ascent Biomedical Ventures, CT
Innovations, Devon Park BioVentures, Healthcare Private Equity,
Mitsubishi International Corporation and MVM Life Science Partners.
In conjunction with the financing, Martin
Vogelbaum, a partner at Rho Ventures, will join Cara’s Board
of Directors. The Series D financing will be used primarily for the
continued clinical development of Cara’s lead peripherally
restricted kappa opioid agonist, CR845, for the treatment of
post-operative pain.  Cara has raised more than $43M since inception.

“There has been little innovation in post-operative pain
treatment where opioid use continues to be the standard of care
even though it is associated with significant side effects which
present an ongoing pharmacoeconomic burden for hospitals.  Due
to its peripheral activity and lack of CNS penetration, we believe
Cara’s CR845 has a chance to provide opioid-like pain relief while
significantly reducing opioid use and its associated side effects,”
said Martin Vogelbaum, partner at
Rho Ventures.  “We have been impressed with the progress that
the Cara team have made to date with CR845 and look forward to
working with them as CR845 progresses through the clinic.”

“We are very pleased to welcome Rho Ventures as our newest
investor and we look forward to benefiting from Martin’s
considerable experience as we continue the clinical development of
CR845,” said Derek Chalmers,
President and CEO of Cara Ther

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