ALZA buys license for Cara Therapeutics pain drug candidate

By Angela McDaniels

Seattle, Jan. 5 - ALZA Corp. has entered into a worldwide licensing agreement with Cara Therapeutics Inc. for Cara's peripherally acting pain drug candidate CR665, according to a company news release.

ALZA gave Cara an upfront payment and will pay pre-determined clinical and regulatory milestone payments.

Cara is eligible to receive royalties on sales of all marketed products incorporating the compound and has an option to co-promote intravenous products in the United States, the release said.

The collaboration will focus on further clinical development of an intravenous formulation of the compound and the development of additional formulations of the compound incorporating ALZA technologies.

"We believe that ALZA's and Johnson & Johnson's proven expertise in drug development and marketing in the analgesia and anti-inflammatory sector will provide an optimum path for the worldwide clinical development and commercialization of CR665," Derek Chalmers, president and chief executive officer of Cara Therapeutics, said in the release.

"The combination of ALZA's leading edge drug delivery technologies and Cara's best-in-class peripheral analgesic holds great promise as a breakthrough for treating patients with chronic pain and inflammatory conditions."

A completed phase 1a study of intravenous CR665 in healthy volunteers indicated that the drug candidate was safe, well tolerated and exhibited predictable pharmacokinetic characteristics, Cara Therapeutics said. 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.

Cara Therapeutics also said that unlike currently marketed opioids, CR665 does not produce inhibition of intestinal transit, induce respiratory depression or elicit signs of euphoria or addiction in animal models.

ALZA is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson based in Mountain View, Calif., that develops drug-delivery systems.

Cara Therapeutics is a privately held biotechnology company based in Tarrytown, N.Y., that develops novel, improved therapeutics to treat pain and inflammation.

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