Published on 19 Dec 2023 on Zacks via Yahoo Finance
CARA's Late-Stage Skin Disease Study Fails, Stock Plummets 49%
Cara Therapeutics, Inc. CARA, a commercial-stage company, announced the failure of its dose-finding Part A of the KIND 1 study, evaluating the efficacy and safety of oral difelikefalin as an adjunct therapy to topical corticosteroids (TCS) for moderate-to-severe pruritus in adult patients with atopic dermatitis (AD).
Cara already markets an intravenous version of difelikefalin, a kappa opioid receptor agonist, in the form of Korsuva (difelikefalin) injection. Korsuva injection is the first and only FDA-approved treatment for moderate-to-severe pruritus associated with CKD in adults undergoing hemodialysis. In the EU and UK, the drug is marketed under the brand name Kapruvia.
Per the data readout from the KIND 1 study, oral difelikefalin as an adjunct to TCS did not demonstrate a meaningful clinical benefit compared to TCS monotherapy. Following this outcome, Cara discontinued its clinical program in pruritus associated with AD.