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Print Edition StoriesMonday, February 8, 2010
Cara Therapeutics' painkiller hits on positive results
By Mass High Tech staff
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Connecticut biotechnology firm Cara Therapeutics Inc. has received positive data from a Phase 2 clinical trial for its opioid painkiller, CR845.
The trial evaluated the efficacy of CR845 for 46 women after laparoscopic-assisted hysterectomy. Cara Therapeutics reported that its painkiller showed “significant pain relief” over placebo results. In the 16 hours following administration of CR845, patients also used 32 percent less morphine and showed fewer side effects.
“CR845 works selectively at the site of injury and not in the brain and so provides clinically effective pain relief without side effects such as nausea, vomiting, sedation and respiratory depression that are commonly observed with morphine and other narcotic analgesics,” said Raymond Sinatra, professor of anesthesiology and co-director of acute pain at the Yale School of Medicine, in a press release. It also eliminated the risk of bleeding that could accompany painkillers such as injectable non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or acetaminophen.
Cara Therapeutics received a patent in 2008 for CR845, which the company said is being developed as a treatment for acute and chronic pain of visceral, inflammatory and neuropathic origin, and treatment for itching associated with several diseases and conditions.
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