Latigo's non-opioid pain pill shows Phase 2 success, rivaling Vertex's Journavx

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For decades, efforts to develop non-opioid pain drugs were marked by failure. But what was once a graveyard of drug discovery is quickly turning into a race for a multibillion-dollar market, with Latigo Biotherapeutics publishing positive data on Wednesday for a therapy meant to rival a Vertex medicine already on the market.

The startup’s Phase 2 trial enrolled 343 patients who’d gotten tummy tuck surgery; they were randomized to receive a high or low dose of Latigo’s experimental pill, a placebo, or a combination of acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone. Those given either dose of Latigo’s oral drug, LTG-001, showed statistically significant pain relief compared to placebo after 48 hours. And while participants in all groups had the option to use the opioid oxycodone if they needed additional pain management, those on a high dose of Latigo’s therapy were significantly less likely to do so than participants on placebo.

The drug was generally safe and well tolerated, with higher overall adverse event rates in the placebo group than in either treatment group. Some adverse events, however, were more common in the treatment groups: 7% of those taking a high dose of LTG-001 had a fever, compared with 2% of people on placebo, and 6% experienced lightheadedness, compared with 1% of the placebo group.

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