Latigo Biotherapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing best-in-class non-opioid pain medicines, has appointed Nima Farzan, MBA, as chief executive officer (CEO).

Farzan brings a strong track record of more than two decades of leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. He replaces Desmond Padhi, Pharm.D., operating partner at Westlake Village BioPartners, who has been serving as Latigo’s interim CEO.

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

Experience

Farzan brings more than two decades of leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including a significant tenure as chief executive officer (CEO) of Kinnate Biopharma.

He joined Kinnate in 2020 and built an organization that subsequently brought three different precision oncology compounds discovered internally into the clinic. He led Kinnate’s successful initial public offering (IPO) of $270 million and eventual sale to Xoma Corporation in April 2024.

Prior to joining Kinnate, Farzan spent seven years at PaxVax, where he was most recently president and CEO. At PaxVax, he led a team of 250 people through several successful financings, the licensure from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Vaxchora (cholera vaccine), the grant of a Priority Review Voucher from the FDA, the acquisition of several programs from Johnson & Johnson, and a number of commercial product launches. The company received a Priority Review Voucher that it sold and ultimately, he negotiated the sale of PaxVax to Emergent BioSolutions, returning nearly $500 million back to shareholders between the two transactions.

Prior to PaxVax, he was at Novartis AG in a series of roles of increasing responsibility, including vice president of U.S. Marketing at Novartis’ Vaccines and Diagnostics division. Previously, he worked at DoubleTwist, a pioneering genomics company, and was a consultant with Boston Consulting Group. After the sales of PaxVax and Kinnate, Farzan was an executive-in-residence at Foresite Capital.

Farzan is a director of Keros Therapeutics and was a member of the founding board of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BA in human biology with honors from Stanford University.

“I am honored to lead Latigo Biotherapeutics at such a critical juncture,” said Farzan. “With our cutting-edge approach to pain management, I am confident in our ability to drive significant advancements in the field and enhance patient care where new, safer options are needed.”