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STAT+: Atai Life Sciences plans to merge with psychedelic startup Beckley Psytech
Two companies trying to develop psychedelic medicines make a merger deal as the Trump administration has expressed support for the field.
Atai Life Sciences, among the most prominent biotechs focused on psychedelic medicines, said Monday it will merge with private psychedelic startup Beckley Psytech, pending results of a trial for a drug based on the practice of “smoking toad.”
The new company will be known as Atai Beckley, with Beckley Psytech shareholders receiving 31% of shares in the entity. The deal, which values Beckley at $370 million, comes as the Trump Administration has expressed support for the field.
Beckley’s lead program is a synthetic, intranasal form of 5-meo-dmt, a toxin found on a toad species native to the Sonoran Desert in Mexico and the southwestern United States. “Smoking toad” has surged in popularity in recent years — Hunter Biden and Mike Tyson are both evangelists — sparking both concern for the amphibians’ long-term welfare and efforts to develop synthetic alternatives.
