Atai Life Sciences announced that it has invested a total of $50 million to acquire 35.5% of Beckley Psytech, which is developing BPL-003 intranasal synthetic 5-MeO-DMT (mebufotenin). Atai’s subsidiary Innaris Bio is developing a gelling excipient for use in intranasal drugs for the treatment of mental health disorders.
The deal includes the right of first negotiation for both of Beckley’s pipeline drugs, ELE-101 intravenous psilocin for the treatment of major depressive disorder and BPL-003. In October 2024, Beckley initiated a Phase 2b trial of BPL-003 in people with moderate-to-severe treatment resistant depression. The company is also developing BPL-003 for the treatment of alcoholism.
Beckley Psytech CEO Cosmo Feilding Mellen said, “Beckley Psytech and Atai Life Sciences share a vision for the future of mental health treatment, and we are excited to join forces on the journey to develop effective, accessible, rapid-acting psychedelic medicines for people in need. Alongside the financial investment, we are optimistic about the numerous possible synergies of this collaboration, especially in developing digital tools to optimize patient support and planning for future commercialization. We look forward to exploring these in the coming months.”
Atai Chairman Christian Angermayer commented, “This transaction underscores our conviction in the potential of psychedelics as groundbreaking treatments for people living with mental health disorders. Short-duration psychedelics have the potential to offer similar clinical benefit to longer-acting psychedelics, in a more efficient and scalable way, which could lead to increased patient access. By including BPL-003 and ELE-101 in the atai platform, we are building the largest portfolio of psychedelic compounds with prior clinical evidence.”
Atai CEO Florian Brand said, “When it comes to mental health, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and the diverse pharmacology of our drug candidates acknowledges the heterogeneity of neuropsychiatric patient populations. Looking ahead to the next 12 months, adding to our already strong pipeline of potential catalysts, we anticipate this investment will lead to several additional meaningful clinical readouts, including topline results from the BPL-003 Phase 2b study, expected in the second half of 2024.”
Read the Atai Life Sciences press release.
