(Note: This biotech company is focused on developing synthetic psychedelic compounds to treat mental health disorders, including treatment-resistant depression, anxiety and substance abuse disorder. Billionaire Peter Thiel invested $12 million in this start-up in November 2020 through Thiel Capital, his venture capital firm, as part of a $125 million private fund-raising round, CNBC reported.) 

We have a bold and ambitious vision: to heal mental health disorders so that everyone, everywhere can live a more fulfilled life.

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders. We founded atai Life Sciences in 2018 as a response to the significant unmet need and lack of innovation in the mental health treatment landscape, as well as the emergence of therapies that previously may have been overlooked or underused, including psychedelic compounds and digital therapeutics. We have built a pipeline of 10 development programs and six enabling technologies, each led by focused teams with deep expertise in their respective fields and supported by our internal development and operational infrastructure. We believe that several of our therapeutic programs’ target indications have potential market opportunities of at least $1 billion in annual sales, if approved. One of our atai companies, Recognify Life Sciences, has initiated a Phase 2a trial in the United States. We expect to initiate a Phase 2 trial for another program in 2021 and an additional three Phase 2 trials for other programs in 2022. We also expect to initiate Phase 1 trials for two of our programs in 2021 and an additional four in 2022.

Mental health disorders such as depression, substance use disorder, or SUD, and anxiety, which are among our initial focus indications, are highly prevalent and estimated to affect more than one billion people globally. Additionally, it is expected that more than 50% of the U.S. population will be diagnosed with a mental health disorder at some point in their lifetime, with increasing incidence ascribed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those suffering from mental health disorders have higher mortality rates than the general population and often experience decreased quality of life as a result of emotional, behavioral or physical manifestations. In addition, the total costs of mental health disorders are significant and expected to increase substantially. Between 2009 and 2019, spending on mental health care in the United States increased by more than 50%, reaching $225 billion. A Lancet Commission report estimates the global economic cost will reach $16 trillion by 2030. While current treatments, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, or SNRIs, are well established and effective for certain patients, a significant percentage of patients either respond inadequately or relapse, translating to a significant unmet patient need.

Note: Revenue is license revenue for the last 12 months. The net loss figure shown here is also for the last 12 months.