The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Cara Therapeutics ranks in Top 10 of Deloitte Fast 500
STAMFORD — Cara Therapeutics, a Stamford-based biotech firm, has been ranked No. 9 in a list by Deloitte of companies that have grown the most in the past few years.
The awardees in the 2020 North America Technology Fast 500 listing were chosen based on their revenue growth from 2016 to 2019.
Cara, which is developing treatments for the itch condition pruritus, secured its ranking with a 23,000 percent revenue increase from 2016 to 2019. Its returns for 2019 totaled about $20 million, with nearly all of that income coming from license and “milestone” fees.
Among recent deals, Cara last month signed an agreement with Vifor Pharma to commercialize across the entire U.S. dialysis market its Korsuva injection to treat chronic kidney diseaserelated pruritus in patients undergoing hemodialysis.
Through the agreement, Cara will receive a 60 percent share of the medicine’s profits, an upfront payment of $ 100 million and an equity investment of $50 million.
Before the end of the year, Cara is planning to submit a new drug application for the Korsuva injection to the federal Food and Drug Administration.
“Cara Therapeutics is very pleased to be recognized as one of the Top 10 companies in Deloitte’s 2020 North America Technology Fast 500,” Cara CEO and President Derek Chalmers said in a statement. “We aim to continue our rapid growth into 2021 with the potential launch of our first product, Korsuva injection.”
New Haven-based Arvinas, a
biotech firm that focuses on cancer and other diseases, ranked No. 216. West Haven-based software firm Device42 placed No. 220. Windsor-based SS&C, a provider of investment and financial services and software for the financial services and health care industries, came in at No. 439.
“To have a company in the Top 10 of the rankings is an amazing accomplishment and a testament to Connecticut’s ability to grow a viable technology sector as a complement to our marketplace’s more traditional industry base,” Heather Ziegler, Deloitte’s Stamford managing partner, said in a statement.
“I am also very encouraged that our state has fast-growth companies focused on health and wellness in addition to software and other areas. This will help to further diversify our economy as we look to increase our resiliency and viability going forward.”
The tristate area accounted for 13 percent of companies in the Fast 500. California’s Silicon Valley unsurprisingly led all regions with a 20 percent share.
Overall, Fast 500 companies achieved revenue growth from 175 percent to 106,508 percent, with a median growth rate of 450 percent.
Pasadena, Calif.-based Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals ranked No. 1 overall with a growth rate of 106,508 percent. It develops medicines that treat “intractable” diseases by “silencing” the genes that cause them, according to its website.
The other companies in the Top 10 are all biotech or software firms. Two are based in California’s Bay Area, two are based in Atlanta, and four are based in Boston or neighboring Cambridge and Newton, Mass.