Eli Lilly and Company has agreed to pay approximately $2.8 billion up front and up to an additional $1 billion in milestone payments for pyschedelics developer AtaiBeckley, the companies said. AtaiBeckley’s lead candidate is BPL-003 dry powder intranasal mebufotenin (synthetic 5-MeO-DMT) for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression. In October 2025, the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to BPL-003 for that indication.
BPL-003 was in Phase 2 development at Beckley Psytech when Atai Life Sciences acquired about 35% of that company in 2024. The following year, the two companies merged to form AtaiBeckley. Earlier this year, AtaiBeckley said that it had completed an End‑of‑Phase 2 meeting with the FDA regarding BPL-003 nasal spray and announced its plans for Phase 3 trials.
AtaiBeckley CEO Srinivas Rao commented, “Across our portfolio, we’re seeking to demonstrate that psychiatric illness is treatable at its biological root, not just its symptoms. Lilly’s expertise and reach are expected to accelerate that work for people whose conditions have not responded to existing treatments.”
AtaiBeckley Chairman of the Board Christian Angermayer added, “From Atai’s founding, our mission has been to bring transformative mental health treatments to the patients who need them most. Joining Lilly gives this pipeline, and the patients waiting for it, the benefit of the resources and scale Lilly has to potentially advance therapies faster than we could alone. I am confident this transaction represents the best path forward for patients and shareholders.”
Lilly Neuroscience Executive VP and President Carole Ho said, “Treatment-resistant depression persists even after multiple treatments have failed. Millions of people are still searching for relief and desperately need a therapy that works. Advancing AtaiBeckley’s investigational therapies gives us a real chance to change that.”
Read the AtaiBeckley and Eli Lilly press release
