Beckley Psytech and ATAI Life Sciences NV (NASDAQ: ATAI) (FRA: 9VC) (ETR: 9VC) are teaming up to become a psychedelic knowledge powerhouse.
This impending consolidation was revealed on Monday and will result in a combined company called atai Beckley. The deal is expected to close by the end of the month, creating a psychedelic drug developer with a valuation of about US$390 million.
“As an investor, I am very confident in the potential of atai and am convinced that me and my fellow investors will be rewarded,” atai Chairman, Christian Angermayer, explained in a blog post about the merger. “Today marks a major milestone in my psychedelic journey.”
Beckley’s top compound is a patented intranasal 5-MeO-DMT compound: BPL-003. Recruitment for a Phase 2a study on the drug is currently ongoing and topline data from it is expected later this year. It is the largest assessment of its kind to date.
atai’s main psychedelic drugs are an orally-administered DMT therapeutic for depression and an MDMA compound used to alleviate anxiety (EMP-01).
Co-founder Florian Brand (atai) said he believes the partnership is creating a “true leader in short-acting, scalable psychedelic therapies with a highly competitive and differentiated pipeline,” in social media post.
atai took a 33 per cent stake in Beckley last year for US$50 million before the companies decided to strengthen their alliance. Pending closure of the merger, private Beckley Psytech shareholders will own 31 per cent of the combined entity.
In conjunction with the merger news, atai revealed that it has secured a US$30-million-dollar private placement from a group of strategic investors. The financing is expected to be finalized on Tuesday.
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Angermayer sad about Amanda Feilding’s passing
The major news follows the loss of an influential psychedelics figure that co-founded Beckley Psytech.
Amanda Feilding, once referred to as the “Queen of Psychedelics,” left us on May 22. She helped found the Beckley Foundation in 1998 — a leading research organization that has collaborated with major schools like Imperial College London and co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed papers.
Feilding played a pivotal role in the world’s first LSD brain imaging study, completed in 2016.
Her son Cosmo currently serves as Beckley Psytech’s CEO. The company’s chairman says it is an honour to continue Amanda’s legacy through working with him.
“She was a legend,” Angermayer said. “In my opinion, without her, the ‘psychedelic renaissance’ of the last few years would not have happened.”
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