Press Release: Cara Therapeutics Closes Second Tranche to Complete $24 Million Series C Financing

Cara Therapeutics Closes Second Tranche to Complete $24 Million Series C Financing TARRYTOWN, N.Y., February 22, 2007 -- Cara Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that it had secured an additional $5 million in funding to complete its $24 million Series C financing. The first tranche of $19 million closed in November 2006. New investors participating in this additional tranche are Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and Mitsubishi International Corporation. Previous investors in this round included MVM Life Science Partners, Alta Partners and Ascent Biomedical Ventures. "The completion of this financing provides Cara with sufficient financial resources to advance our next two internal drug candidates into Phase I clinical development," said Dr. Derek Chalmers, President & CEO of Cara Therapeutics. "We are very pleased to broaden our investor base and look forward to working with our new investors to add value to the Company's drug development pipeline," he added. In 2006, Cara announced that it had entered into a worldwide licensing agreement with ALZA Corporation, a Johnson & Johnson company, for Cara's novel peripherally-acting pain drug candidate, CR665, to develop both intravenous and novel formulations. Under the terms of that agreement, Cara received an upfront payment and is eligible to receive pre-determined clinical and regulatory milestone payments. Cara is also eligible to receive royalties on sales of all marketed products incorporating the compound, as well as an option to co-promote intravenous products in the U.S. About CR665 CR665 is the lead clinical development candidate from a proprietary series of highly selective peripheral kappa opioid receptor agonists. Preclinical studies indicate that CR665 is a potent analgesic, but in contrast to currently marketed opioids, CR665 does not inhibit intestinal transit, induce respiratory depression, or elicit signs of euphoria or addiction in animal models. Preclinical studies also indicate that CR665 possesses anti-inflammatory activity. Cara completed a Phase 1a study of intravenous CR665 in healthy men and women which indicated that the drug candidate was safe, well tolerated, and exhibited predictable pharmacokinetic characteristics. 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. About Cara Therapeutics Cara Therapeutics is a privately held biotechnology company originally seeded by a syndicate led by Esperante, and is focused on developing novel, superior therapeutics to treat pain and inflammation associated with diverse medical conditions. Cara's current pipeline includes near-term clinical drug candidates within multiple classes of peripherally-acting analgesics. Cara also plans to develop entirely novel classes of analgesics that emerge from its proprietary GPCR DimerScreen(TM) technology. Further information is available at the company's website, at http://www.caratherapeutics.com. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements include statements relating to the therapeutic applications of CR665 and about Cara's strategy, technologies, pre-clinical and clinical programs, and ability to identify and develop drugs, as well as other statements that are not historical facts. Actual events or results may differ materially from Cara's expectations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the timing, success and cost of Cara's research and clinical studies and Cara's ability to obtain additional financing. These forward-looking statements represent Cara's judgment as of the date of this release. Cara disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. CONTACT: Derek Chalmers, President & CEO of Cara Therapeutics,+1-914-347-4040, ext. 201 Web site: http://www.caratherapeutics.com//