Latigo raises $150m for non-opioid painkiller push

Latigo Biotherapeutics has tapped into investor interest in pain relief medicines with new, non-opioid mechanisms of action, raising $150 million for drugs that it hopes will challenge Vertex Pharma's first-in-class Journavx.

The Thousand Oaks, California-based company burst onto the scene just over a year ago with $135 million in first-round financing for a pipeline of drugs that targets NaV1.8 sodium channels – putting them in the same class as Journavx (suzetrigine) which was cleared by the FDA in January for moderate-to-severe acute pain.

The new $150 million Series B – led by funds managed by Blue Owl Capital – will help to fund further clinical testing of lead drug LTG-001, in early-stage development for acute pain, as well as follow-up drugs for both acute and chronic pain indications.

Latigo recently reported the first data from its phase 1 trial of LTG-001, showing that it was well-tolerated with rapid absorption after oral dosing. Since its Series A in February 2024, it has also started clinical trials of LTG-305, which it describes as a "potential best-in-class non-opioid therapeutic candidate for the treatment of chronic pain." Both are expected to start phase 2 testing later this year.

Vertex's drug, which was approved on the back of a pair of phase 3 trials in patients undergoing abdominoplasty and bunionectomy surgery, has been predicted by some analysts to have the potential to become a $5 billion-a-year blockbuster. However, its prospects were diminished after it was unable to perform better than placebo in a phase 2 trial in lumbosacral radiculopathy (LSR), a form of chronic, neuropathic back pain.

If that is a signal of reduced efficacy in chronic pain it could be a drag on Journavx peak sales potential, as that is a much larger market opportunity than acute pain. Vertex said it intended to move the drug into phase 3 for LSR nonetheless, saying the phase 2 study had been affected by a higher-than-expected placebo response rate.

Nima Farzan, chief executive of Latigo, said: "The need for non-opioid pain treatments has never been more urgent, and this financing allows us to accelerate the development of our robust portfolio of pain medicines that have the potential to transform the treatment landscape."

The second round also featured participation from Deep Track Capital, Access Biotechnology, Qatar Investment Authority, Cormorant Asset Management, Sanofi Ventures, Rock Springs Capital, UPMC Enterprises, and Kern Capital, as well as existing investors in the company.