By Jorge Mercado Thursday, July 25th, 2024

The common saying goes “The third time’s a charm” but for Nima Farzan, he’s looking to go 3-for-3 successfully running biotechnology companies.

On July 22, Farzan was appointed to be Latigo Biotherapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company based in Thousand Oaks, first CEO.

Farzan’s experience spans more than two decades long in the biopharmaceutical industry, including being the CEO of PaxVax and, most recently, Kinnate Biopharma.

“It’s never easy being the CEO of a biotech startup, but it does get a little easier as you get more experience along the way,” Farzan told the Business Times.

Latigo Biotherapeutics is focused on developing non-opioid pain medicines that target pain at its source. 

“The unmet need in the pain space is so large,” Farzan said.

“Millions of Americans suffer every year from acute pain like post-surgical pain or chronic pain and yet there has been very little innovation, with practically no new chemical matter brought to market in the past few decades.”

Farzan added that the American Medical Association estimates that nearly 20% of patients prescribed an opioid will develop some form of dependency on that opioid at some point in their life.

“It’s one of the things that excited me about Latigo, making a societal impact. This really has to do with developing non-opioid medicines,” Farzan said.

“Opioids are so widely prescribed and so the opportunity to reduce those prescriptions would make a difference but there are also patients that need the efficacy that opioids have but don’t take them because it is an opioid so there is a real societal need.”

Solving that opioid crisis is really the “big picture” for Farzan.

“There are a lot of different components to solving that… but I do really believe that innovation in biopharmaceuticals and coming up with non-opioid, but effective and safe pain treatments is one of those key legs in the soul of solving this opioid crisis,” he said.

Latigo first emerged from stealth mode on Feb. 14, announcing $135 million in Series A financing.

The company’s $135 million in Series A financing was led by Westlake Village BioPartners, who also incubated Latigo, with 5AM Ventures and Foresite Capital acting as co-leads with participation from Corner Ventures.

That connection with Foresite Capital is what introduced Farzan to the company. 

Foresite was the largest investor at Kinnate. 

During Farzan’s tenure, which started in 2020, Kinnate brought three different precision oncology compounds discovered internally into the clinic. 

He also led Kinnate’s successful initial public offering of $270 million and eventual sale to Xoma Corporation in April 2024, according to a press release.

That success is what led Foresite to introduce the two sides to each other, which ended up being a perfect match.

“Whether you like it or not, being a biotech CEO is mostly about raising money. These are expensive studies and things that need to get done and that is an area of expertise I have,” he said.

“The ability for me to bring capital to this company will allow us to develop these compounds without making compromises.”

With $135 million, Latigo has some runway for some time, but Farzan noted how his experience with IPOs is still important for future rounds.

“That may not be imminent, but having had that experience gives other investors confidence that if we company does get to that stage, that there’s leadership in place that can take us to that next level,” he said.

Latigo is based in Thousand Oaks and is in the same plaza as fellow Westlake-back biotech company, Capsida. 

The company has about 26 employees with plans to add more now that Farzan has joined, he said.

“I love building. I love building teams around a mission and that is what we have here. As we progress, we have to scale capabilities and that is what is most exciting to me,” Farzan said.

Latigo’s lead program, LTG-001, is an oral, selective Nav1.8 inhibitor currently in Phase 1 clinical trials in healthy volunteers and intended to treat acute and chronic pain. 

“The addition of Nima represents a pivotal moment for Latigo,” Nancy Stagliano, chair of Latigo’s board of directors, said in a press release. 

“His extensive industry leadership and clinical development experience will propel us toward our goal of becoming a world leader in discovering and developing non-opioid pain medicines.”

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