Psychedelic drug developers atai Life Sciences and Beckley Psytech are set to merge in a transaction that would value Beckley at around $370M. The combined entity, which would be named atai Beckley, would have a leadership team and Board reflective of both companies.
Importantly, the transaction is dependent on the outcome of Beckley’s heavily-anticipated Phase 2b study, which sees its intranasal 5-MeO-DMT candidate (BPL-003) tested for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Should predefined criteria not be met in that readout, atai reserves the right to walk away from the deal.
Aside from the merger, atai is also about to close on a $30M private placement by existing investors in each company.
Psychedelic Alpha spoke with sources close to the companies to learn more about the proposed merger and financing.
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Reporting by Josh Hardman
Last January, NASDAQ-listed psychedelic drug developer atai Life Sciences announced a strategic investment in its British privately held peer, Beckley Psytech (atai Life Sciences Makes $50m Investment in Beckley Psytech).
That agreement saw atai inject $50M into the company, which gained it a stake of around one-third of Beckly and three of its nine board seats. It also gave atai a time-limited right of first refusal on any future sale of the company or its assets, as well as other perks.
Since that deal, some—including us at Psychedelic Alpha—have speculated that atai was looking to buy the whole company. Speaking to Psychedelic Alpha in April, atai co-founder and chairman Angermayer kept quiet on that question, instead saying that we should ‘wait for the data’ from the Phase 2b study.
It now appears that he and other atai execs were negotiating an option to do just that, pending the Phase 2b data, which is still expected ‘mid-2025’.
Terms of the Deal: atai’s All-Share Offer Values Beckley at $370M
The proposed merger takes the form of an all-share transaction that sees around 105 million new atai shares issued, in consideration of the approximately two-thirds of Beckley Psytech not currently held by atai via the earlier investment. According to napkin math, that values Beckley at around $370M…
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