Business	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Basis of Presentation
Business	1. Business Cara Therapeutics, Inc., or the Company, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical corporation formed on July 2, 2004. The Company is focused on developing and commercializing new chemical entities designed to alleviate pruritus by selectively targeting peripheral kappa opioid receptors. The Company’s primary activities to date have been organizing and staffing the Company, developing its product candidates and raising capital. As of September 30, 2020, the Company had raised aggregate net proceeds of approximately $519,600 from several rounds of equity financing, including its initial public offering, or IPO, which closed in February 2014 and four follow-on public offerings of common stock, which closed in July 2019, July 2018, April 2017 and August 2015, respectively, and the issuance of convertible preferred stock and debt prior to the IPO. The Company had also received approximately $90,300 under its license agreements for CR845/difelikefalin, primarily with Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma Ltd., or VFMCRP, Maruishi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., or Maruishi, and Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp., or CKDP, and an earlier product candidate for which development efforts ceased in 2007. Additionally, in May 2018, the Company received net proceeds of $14,556 from the issuance and sale of 1,174,827 shares of the Company’s common stock to Vifor (International) Ltd., or Vifor, in connection with the Company’s license agreement with VFMCRP (see Note 10, Collaboration and Licensing Agreements). As of September 30, 2020, the Company had unrestricted cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities of $131,375 and an accumulated deficit of $471,226. The Company has incurred substantial net losses and negative cash flows from operating activities in nearly every fiscal period since inception and expects this trend to continue for the foreseeable future. The Company recognized net losses of $16,509 and $32,842 for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and $70,499 and $77,762 for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and had net cash used in operating activities of $87,575 and $78,059 for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. In October 2020, the Company entered into a license agreement with Vifor pursuant to which the Company received an upfront payment of $100,000 and an additional payment of $50,000 for the purchase of an aggregate of 2,939,552 shares of the Company’s common stock (see Note 16, Subsequent Events). The Company is subject to risks common to other life science companies including, but not limited to, uncertainty of product development and commercialization, lack of marketing and sales history, development by its competitors of new technological innovations, dependence on key personnel, market acceptance of products, product liability, protection of proprietary technology, ability to raise additional financing, and compliance with Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and other government regulations. If the Company does not successfully commercialize any of its product candidates, it will be unable to generate recurring product revenue or achieve profitability.

Business

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

1. Business

Cara Therapeutics, Inc., or the Company, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical corporation formed on July 2, 2004. The Company is focused on developing and commercializing new chemical entities designed to alleviate pruritus by selectively targeting peripheral kappa opioid receptors. The Company’s primary activities to date have been organizing and staffing the Company, developing its product candidates and raising capital.

As of September 30, 2020, the Company had raised aggregate net proceeds of approximately $519,600 from several rounds of equity financing, including its initial public offering, or IPO, which closed in February 2014 and four follow-on public offerings of common stock, which closed in July 2019, July 2018, April 2017 and August 2015, respectively, and the issuance of convertible preferred stock and debt prior to the IPO. The Company had also received approximately $90,300 under its license agreements for CR845/difelikefalin, primarily with Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma Ltd., or VFMCRP, Maruishi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., or Maruishi, and Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp., or CKDP, and an earlier product candidate for which development efforts ceased in 2007. Additionally, in May 2018, the Company received net proceeds of $14,556 from the issuance and sale of 1,174,827 shares of the Company’s common stock to Vifor (International) Ltd., or Vifor, in connection with the Company’s license agreement with VFMCRP (see Note 10, Collaboration and Licensing Agreements).

As of September 30, 2020, the Company had unrestricted cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities of $131,375 and an accumulated deficit of $471,226. The Company has incurred substantial net losses and negative cash flows from operating activities in nearly every fiscal period since inception and expects this trend to continue for the foreseeable future. The Company recognized net losses of $16,509 and $32,842 for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and $70,499 and $77,762 for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and had net cash used in operating activities of $87,575 and $78,059 for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

In October 2020, the Company entered into a license agreement with Vifor pursuant to which the Company received an upfront payment of $100,000 and an additional payment of $50,000 for the purchase of an aggregate of 2,939,552 shares of the Company’s common stock (see Note 16, Subsequent Events).

The Company is subject to risks common to other life science companies including, but not limited to, uncertainty of product development and commercialization, lack of marketing and sales history, development by its competitors of new technological innovations, dependence on key personnel, market acceptance of products, product liability, protection of proprietary technology, ability to raise additional financing, and compliance with Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and other government regulations. If the Company does not successfully commercialize any of its product candidates, it will be unable to generate recurring product revenue or achieve profitability.