Mentioned:
Two of the most important psychedelic drug development companies in the world are merging together. But, why?
What’s happening:
- atai Life Sciences (NASDAQ: ATAI) and Beckley Psytech have officially announced their intention to merge in a new all stock deal
By the numbers:
- Beckley Psytech shareholders will receive approximately 31% of atai Life Sciences following the completion of the merger
- There will be a $30M USD financing led by Ferring Ventures and Adage Capital as part of the new merger
Why it matters:
- Beckley Psytech was originally started to advance the scientific research of the prominent Beckley Foundation, which was led by psychedelic researcher Amanda Fielding and had notable collaborations with both Johns Hopkins University and Imperial College London focused on psychedelic derived compounds
Going deeper:
- Beckley Psytech has multiple psychedelic drugs in development, including their lead compound BPL-003 which is a proprietary and protected formulation of 5-Meo-DMT
- atai Life Sciences has also been advancing their own clinical trials for psychedelic derived medicines, including just recently beginning to dose patients for in a Phase II trial for their MDMA derived drug for social anxiety disorder
The fine print:
- The merger between atai Life Sciences and Beckley Psytech is conditional on positive results from Beckley Psych’s Phase IIb trial of BPL-003, which is expected in the near future
