UBS, the investment bank and financial services giant, featured a guest post from ATAI Life Sciences in their May 2020 Private Markets monthly newsletter.

The piece outlines the scientific foundations of the emergent sector, before expanding on the most promising use case of psychedelics in medicine: for the treatment of mental health disorders.

From a more macro perspective, the guest post points out the despite COVID-19 investment in mental health solutions has reached unprecedented levels. Q1 2020 has seen $462m in funding raised for mental health startups, versus $750m for the entire year of 2019.

Perhaps the broader point is not that investment in mental health solutions has increased despite COVID-19, but because of it. The global pandemic and associated social distancing measures adopted by most countries have exacerbated the pre-existing mental health crisis.

The piece notes that the next few years could present a plethora of opportunities for both public and private investment in the psychedelic sector, with companies developing treatments and therapies for mental health disorders, addictions, and more.

You can read the full piece on page 4 of the document here.