Dive Brief:
- Pain drug developer Latigo Biotherapeutics has joined a queue of more than half a dozen other biotechnology startups that announced this month plans to go public.
- Founded in 2018 by the venture capital firm Westlake BioPartners, Latigo is trying to make non-opioid drugs that work by blocking so-called sodium ion channels. The company’s most advanced candidate, LTG-101, is on track to enter late-stage testing by the end of the year, where researchers will evaluate it as a treatment for moderate to severe acute pain.
- According to documents filed Friday, Latigo intends to trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol “LTGO.” It has raised approximately $322 million since inception, and, as of March 31, had accumulated a deficit of $266 million. Latigo recorded a $109 net loss in 2025.
Dive Insight:
Latigo is the smaller of three companies leading the charge toward pain drugs that act on sodium channels. Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly recently entered this research area through a potentially billion-dollar acquisition of SiteOne Therapeutics, which designed an experimental pill that’s now in mid-stage testing for moderate to severe acute pain.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, meanwhile, already has an approved product in Journavx, which got cleared as an acute pain treatment in early 2025. Though sales have yet to seriously impress Wall Street — they totaled almost $90 million during Journavx’s first year on the market — analysts see a massive opportunity should the drug expand into chronic pain. Vertex is working to do that, but results so far have been mixed.
While Lilly and Vertex are deeply resourced, Latigo argues there’s room for more players. And it’s not the only one to think so. When Novo Holdings, the controlling stakeholder of Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk, led a $100 million funding round for SiteOne, its “investment thesis” was this emerging segment of drug development is “perhaps a horse race with two or three competitors, but one in which every horse can win,” according to senior partner Ken Harrison.
Latigo in March announced the closing of a $150 million Series B round led by asset manager Blue Owl Capital. Existing investors 5AM Ventures, Foresite Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments also participated in fundraise, as did an array of new backers.
“Pain represents one of the largest and most pervasive therapeutic markets in the United States, driving an estimated 250 million prescriptions annually across acute and chronic settings,” Latigo said in its initial public offering documents. “[H]owever, a continued reliance on opioids has contributed to a persistent public health crisis with significant societal and economic costs.”
Latigo further intensifies a busy month for biotechnology IPOs. Six others have disclosed plans to go public, including cancer drugmaker BlossomHill Therapeutics, heart disease specialist Braveheart Bio and genetic medicine developer Scribe Therapeutics.
