When founders of Latigo Biotherapeutics Inc. first set out a few years ago to establish a biopharma firm focused in the area of pain, the plan had been to get a head start by in-licensing promising assets in the space. But that proved easier said than done. “With the exception of very early chemical matter” from the Lieber Institute for Brain Development, “we really couldn’t find anything else of quality to bring in, which I think is a testament to how little pain research and investment was ongoing in pharma and academia,” said Sean Harper, co-founding managing director at Westlake Village Biopartners, which founded Latigo in 2020 and led the firm’s $135 million series A round.