Pain drugmaker Latigo Biotherapeutics went public Thursday, raising more than a third of a billion dollars to fuel its work developing new, non-opioid medicines.
The Los Angeles-area biotechnology company is selling 19.2 million shares at $18 apiece, which should result in gross proceeds of $345.6 million. Latigo said the offering received more investor interest than initially expected. Shares will begin trading Friday on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol “LTGO.”
Latigo’s market debut adds to a recent wave of biotech initial public offerings that signals renewed confidence in a sector that’s fresh off a historic, multiyear downturn. This week alone, four biotechs have gone public. Joining Latigo on Thursday was cancer-focused BlossomHill Therapeutics, which priced almost 9.4 million shares at $16 each for gross proceeds of $150 million.
Cardiac drugmaker Braveheart Bio and immune system specialist Attovia Therapeutics beat them by just days, respectively bringing in $382.5 million and $289 million. This year has seen a significant uptick in large biotech IPOs, with Latigo being the 14th to secure $250 million or more. That tally is equal to the last four years combined, according to BioPharma Dive data.
Prior to its IPO, Latigo raised approximately $322 million while private. As of March 31, the company accrued a deficit of $266 million and, in 2025, it recorded a $109 million net loss.
Latigo’s work revolves around pain-signaling proteins known as sodium ion channels. It was created by venture capital firm Westlake BioPartners and staffed with former neuroscience employees from Amgen. Currently, the company lists three main drugs in its pipeline, the most advanced of which is on the cusp of entering late-stage testing as a treatment for the short-lived “acute” pain typically felt after an accident or surgery.
“It was a basic benchtop science exercise, knowing that on the other side there could be a GLP-1-like, decabillion-dollar market,” David Allison, a managing director at Westlake, told BioPharma Dive late last year, explaining the firm’s rationale for backing the company.
Within this area of drug development, Latigo’s two main rivals are far larger. One is Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which in early 2025 won commercial approval for Journavx, an ion-channel-blocking pill also used for acute pain. Journavx sales, which reached almost $90 million during its first year on the market, have so far underwhelmed Wall Street analysts.
Eli Lilly is in this space, too, having bought pain specialist SiteOne Therapeutics in a deal worth up to $1 billion. Lilly as well as Latigo and Vertex hope their drugs will work in chronic pain — a varied condition that affects around one in four Americans and where the long-term use of opioids is a major public health concern.
