Debra Borchardt
Psychedelic industry leader Atai Life Sciences B.V. (Nasdaq: ATAI) announced the pricing of its upsized initial public offering in the United States of 15,000,000 common shares at a price to the public of $15.00 per share. atai’s common shares are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Market on June 18, 2021 under the ticker symbol “ATAI.” In April, the company had initially planned on a $100 million offering, but that has ballooned to $225 million.
Atai is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders. atai was founded 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. The company has created a pipeline of 10 therapeutics and six enabling technologies. So far none of the Atai-supported drugs have received regulatory approval. One of its companies, Recognify Life Sciences, has initiated a Phase 2a trial in the US. ATAI expects to initiate a Phase 2 trial for another program in 2021 and an additional three Phase 2 trials for other programs in 2022.
Atai has raised more than $362 million in private funding from a group of VCs and other investors. Its most famous investor is Peter Thiel. Besides Thiel and his firm, Thiel Capital, the company’s other notable backers include Steve Jurvetson‘s Future Ventures. Atai is headquartered in Berlin, with offices in New York and London.
In addition, atai has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,250,000 common shares at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts, and commissions. The offering is expected to close on June 22, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.
Compass Pathways, a biopharmaceutical company that patented the psychedelic compound psilocybin for use in treatment-resistant depression, went public on the Nasdaq last September and currently has a market capitalization of $1.2 billion. Thiel and Atai, through its founder Christian Angermayer, were major private investors in Compass Pathways before its IPO.
