Cara Therapeutic (NASDAQ:CARA)
Cara Therapeutics, Inc. (CARA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company yesterday announced top-line data from its phase 2 trial of Oral CR845. ORAL CR845 is used treat chronic pain in patients with osteoarthritis.
The company tested three different dosage amounts two dosages at 1mg and 2.5mg failed to reduce pain in patients, while the third dosage at 5mg did show statistically significant reduction in joint pain in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip. Although the 5mg dosage did not show reduction in joint pain of the combined patient group.
Cara Therapeutics, Inc. CMO’s Comments
“We believe that the present trial of oral CR845 has highlighted the potential of a peripherally acting kappa agonist to provide clinical benefit in a chronic pain population and we’re pleased that statistical significance was achieved for the 5.0 mg dose in patients with OA of the hip,” said Joseph Stauffer, D.O., M.B.A., Chief Medical Officer of Cara Therapeutics. “The drug was observed to be well tolerated over the treatment period and this overall data set will inform both our dose selection and patient population in designing our next trial of oral CR845 in OA patients.” Globe Newswire
CARA Technical Analysis
CARA opened trading yesterday at $26.94 which was down from the previous day’s trading close of $26.95. Shares closed trading yesterday at $25.51 and crashed down after market to $18.34, equivalent to a 28% decrease from the closing price. Taking a look at the daily chart we can see the last time CARA traded below these levels we have to go back to June 20th when it traded at $17.69.
Taking a closer look at the daily chart we can see that before the spike down CARA had been in an overall upward trend dating back to May 8th when it traded at $14.50. CARA has a float of 27.34 million shares and traded 2.18 times the normal daily trading volume on Thursday, showing the stock is in play with a high relative volume.
For day trading purposes, I would like to see CARA open trading on Friday below $20.75 and if it does I would be looking to take a short position at the bell. My stop loss would be $0.35 from my entry position fearing anything more than that and the stock would start to fill in the gap down.
Company Profile
Cara Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing chemical entities designed to alleviate pain and pruritus by selectively targeting kappa opioid receptors in the United States. It is developing product candidates that target the body’s peripheral nervous system.
The company’s lead product candidate comprises I.V. CR845, which is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of patients with acute postoperative pain in adult patients, as well as in Phase II/III clinical trial for the treatment of uremic pruritus disease. It is also developing Oral CR845 that is in Phase IIb clinical trial to treat moderate-to-severe acute and chronic pain, as well as in Phase I clinical trial to treat uremic pruritus; and CR701, which is in preclinical trial for the treatment of neuropathic and inflammatory pain.
The company has license agreements with Maruishi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd to develop, manufacture, and commercialize drug products containing CR845 for acute pain and uremic pruritus in Japan; and Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corporation to develop, manufacture, and commercialize drug products containing CR845 in South Korea. Cara Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.