Latigo adds to C-suite, board of directors
Thousand Oaks-based Latigo Biotherapeutics appointed Tim Lugo as its chief financial officer Sept. 9 and also added Beth Seidenberg, co-founder of Westlake Village BioPartners, and Jim Tananbaum to its board of directors.
Latigo, a biotech company developing non-opioid pain medicines, said in a press release that these appointments will “bring deep expertise and leadership.”
“Tim’s extensive experience in biotechnology finance and equity research and business development will be invaluable as we continue to scale the company and advance our pipeline,” Latigo CEO Nima Farzan said in a press release.
“With the addition of venture capital veterans Drs. Seidenberg and Tananbaum to our board, Latigo is well-positioned to achieve our mission of providing effective, non-addictive pain relief to millions of patients in need.”
Latigo emerged from stealth mode back in February with $135 million in Series A financing. Westlake Village BioPartners incubated the company and led the Series A financing with 5AM Ventures and Foresite Capital as co-leads with participation from Corner Ventures.
The company added Farzan as its CEO on July 22 as the company begins to rapidly advance its lead clinical programs.
Lugo is a former partner at William Blair and as a group head, he has facilitated raising more than $6 billion in capital through 40-plus transactions, including IPOs.
“I am excited to join Latigo at such a pivotal time,” Lugo said in a press release.
“Our goal is to ensure that our innovative pipeline of non-opioid pain medications reaches the patients who need them as quickly as possible. I look forward to applying my experience in biotech finance, financial markets, and business development to help Latigo become a global leader in non-opioid pain management.”
In a July 24 interview with the Business Times, Farzan 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.”
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.
“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to develop medicines that can dramatically improve patient outcomes while simultaneously helping solve the devastating societal problem of opioid addiction,” Seidenberg said in a press release.
“I am honored to join Latigo’s board and work with such an innovative team. The company’s focus on addressing one of the most critical public health issues of our time — opioid addiction — through non-opioid pain medicines is truly transformative.”
