Introducing atai Life Sciences (NASDAQ: ATAI), A Well-Funded Mental Health Biotech Pioneering the Development of Potential Blockbuster Medicines Like Psychedelics for a Growing $380 Billion Market
The mental health crisis is out of control – and it’s getting worse
The global market size of mental healthcare was $380Bn in 2020 and is expected to grow to $509 Billion by 2028.
Mental health disorders are one of the largest global health burdens and were only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 8 people worldwide – or 1 billion people total – now suffer from some form of mental health disorder.
Young people have been most affected, with teens suffering from unprecedented levels of sadness, increases in self-harm, overdoses, and suicidality. And most people do not receive the care they need.
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Answering that call is atai Life Sciences (Nasdaq: ATAI), a clinical-stage biotechnology company aiming to heal mental health disorders so that everyone everywhere can live more fulfilled lives
atai Life Sciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of novel mental health therapeutics. Founded in 2018 as a response to the significant unmet need and lack of innovation in neuropsychiatry, atai Life Sciences is dedicated to developing compounds with prior evidence in humans, particularly those that have been overlooked and not rigorously studied, such as psychedelics.
atai aims to develop treatments for large and underserved patient populations, including those living with cognitive decline associated with schizophrenia, anxiety, depression and substance use disorders.
atai’s cash position is the strongest in the psychedelic medicine space, with approximately $209M (as of September 30, 2023) and access to up to an additional $160M via term loan facility providing an anticipated runway into H1 2026.
With prominent backing from venture capitalists, including billionaires Peter Thiel and Christian Angermayer, atai Life Sciences ranks among the biggest biotech stocks focused on the development of mental health treatments.
atai Life Sciences takes a holistic approach to “treat the patient, not the condition.” A leader in the mental health space, the company is well equipped to deliver the next generation of mental health medicines
The Story
Co-Founded in 2018 by CEO Florian Brand, a serial entrepreneur named by Endpoints News, Business Insider and Fortune Magazine as a 20/30/40 under 40 in healthcare and biotech, this company began with a personal story.
After watching loved ones struggle with mental health issues, Brand realized that patients across the world were not getting the treatments they needed.
“Watching my best friend and business partner suffer, being let down by existing treatments and finally finding comfort in psychedelic therapies was all the inspiration I needed to commit my life to this cause.”
Florian Brand, CEO of atai
Investment Highlights:
- Large Market Potential: Mental health disorders are one of the largest global health burdens; global market size in mental health was $380Bn in 2020 and is expected to grow to $509bn by 2028.
- Clear Objective: atai’s objective is to achieve clinically meaningful and sustained behavioral change in mental health patients by developing rapid-acting and patient-centric pharmaceutical and digital treatment solutions.
- Large Unmet Clinical Indications: atai's clinical pipeline is currently in development to treat large and underserved patient populations, including those living with cognitive decline associated with schizophrenia, treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders.
- Multiple Shots on Goal: atai has 5 clinical stage drug development programs with a focus on compound classes with prior evidence in humans. Its diversified platform approach helps avoid binary risk and optimizes likelihood of success.
- Significant Catalyst Event Potential: Company expects to deliver multiple R&D milestones anticipated across key clinical programs over next 2 years.
- Strong Cash Position: Approximately $209M (as of September 30, 2023) and access to up to an additional $160m term loan facility with Hercules Capital leads to anticipated cash runway into H1’26.
- Valuation Imbalance Opportunity: Market cap of ~$181M as of November 27, 2023 despite cash balance of $209m as of September 30, 2023, an approx. $55M stake in COMPASS Pathways as of March 17, 2023 and multiple clinical stage drug candidates in development.
- Strong Market Validation: Validation of atai’s operating model and ability to capture value: IPO of COMPASS Pathways in 2020 and licensing deal between Otsuka and atai subsidiary Perception Neuroscience in 2021.
- Compassionate Vision: To heal mental health disorders so that everyone everywhere can live a more fulfilled life.
We can change things. A future where families, friends, parents, sons, and daughters that we love have access to the help that they need. It’s the only future we will accept. And today, that future is one day closer. pic.twitter.com/rHUO9lRz2T
— atai Life Sciences (@atai_life) June 18, 2021
The latest Stifel report released November 2023 is bullish on investing in biotech.
- The healthcare sector is already a very large part of the economy.
- The “high tech” part of healthcare, particularly biotech, will continue to grow at a rate higher than the overall economy indefinitely.
- We are seeing a massive acceleration of underlying innovation and ongoing growth in demand to pay for the life extension associated with such innovation.
- The combined effect of these and many other innovations on life spans and the progress of human civilization will be profound.
atai Life Sciences tackles the mental health crisis with a unique de-risking approach focused on a diverse pipeline of compounds with prior evidence in humans
You can read more about the company’s programs HERE.
atai’s pipeline includes 5 clinical stage drug development programs with a focus on compound classes with prior evidence in humans; this approach involves a pharmacologically diverse pipeline to avoid binary risk while optimizing likelihood of success.
The Potential of Psychedelics
Psilocybin (a hallucinogenic compound) and DMT (a powerful and rapid acting psychedelic present in ayahuasca) have been highly buzzed about in the mental health arena for their potential long-lasting, highly effective treatments.
atai Life Sciences is embarking on the study of these and other drugs for their potential to effectively and rapidly treat many mental health disorders that are resistant to treatment.
🔊 Sound on 🔊
— atai Life Sciences (@atai_life) July 5, 2022
Listen to our CEO and CO-Founder @flobrand discuss the potential of psychedelics for the treatment of mental health with @MStothard pic.twitter.com/V0VzYBZOf2
$ATAI is a leader in the mental health biotechnology space as the company works to deliver on its clinical strategies with immense market potential.
Today, the global mental health market size has reached US$ 380 Billion. Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the market to reach $509 Billion by 2028, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 3.4% between 2023-2028.
The growing, underserved mental health space leads us to atai Life Sciences. The company has an innovative approach to solve the real and growing problem of mental health disorders with a unique digital approach.
Addressing Depression, Anxiety, Addiction, and other Mental Health Disorders with a compassionate mission, atai is zooming in on robust categories in the mental health treatment market.
Schizophrenia
Problem: Cognitive impairment is a core feature of schizophrenia for the 24m people who live with it. 98% of patients with schizophrenia perform worse on cognitive tests than expected. There are no FDA approved therapies for Cognitive Impairment Associated with Schizophrenia (CIAS).
atai's answer: atai is investigating RL-007, a novel compound that has shown pro-cognitive effects in numerous Phase 1 and 2 studies.
Anxiety
Problem: Anxiety disorders are the most comment mental health concern in the United States and not only do less than half of those affected receive treatment, but currently approved medications come with significant side effects and/or risk of dependence.
atai’s answer: atai is investigating deuterated etifoxine, a patent protected version of etifoxine, a drug approved for anxiety in more than 40 countries with benzodiazepine-like effects but without the sedative effects and addictive potential.
Depression
Problem: Depression affects more than 300m people and is the 2nd leading cause of disability worldwide. Only about 1/3 of patients respond to existing treatments and standard-of-care drugs like SSRIs come with significant side effects ranging from weight gain to suicidality.
atai’s answer 1: COMP360 (patented protected synthetic psilocybin) is in late-stage studies for treatment-resistant depression.
atai’s answer 2: atai is studying VLS-01 (oral thin film DMT) for treatment-resistant depression.
Substance Use Disorder
Problem: Over 20m people live with a substance use disorder (SUD) in the US. Since the drug epidemic started in 1999, there have been over 900,000 overdose fatalities. For an already vulnerable population, COVID-19 severely exacerbated the crisis for those with a SUD. Drug overdose deaths shot up ~30% with close to 93,000 deaths in 2020, nearly 70,000 of which involved opioids. With only 2 FDA approved treatments for OUD, options are limited, and relapse rates are as high as 75%.
atai’s answer: atai is studying DMX-1002, an oral formulation of ibogaine, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound isolated from a West African shrub. In uncontrolled studies, Ibogaine has demonstrated rapid and sustained efficacy for OUD.
atai Life Sciences has a market cap of ~$181M as of November 27, 2023 despite cash balance of $209m as of September 30, 2023, an approx. $80M stake in COMPASS Pathways as of March 17, 2023 and multiple clinical stage drug candidates in development that tackle the mental health crisis
With its diverse pipeline of drugs and a focus on compounds with prior evidence in humans, upcoming inflection points (multiple Phase 1 and Phase 2 proof-of-concept trial readouts are expected in the next two years), a world-class team of executives and researchers, and financial runway into 2026, now is the time to pay attention to atai Life Sciences.
Watch our CEO, @flobrand, talk about who we are and why we come to work every day⬇️#MentalHealth #Innovation #Hiring pic.twitter.com/gWLA6niPNQ
— atai Life Sciences (@atai_life) June 1, 2022
In Conclusion
$ATAI is a leading biotech company aiming to transform the treatment of mental healthcare, a market that is expected to grow to $509bn by 2028.
Backed by prominent venture capitalists, including Peter Thiel and Christian Angermayer, atai Life Sciences has 5 clinical stage programs aimed at large and underserved patient populations.
atai Life Sciences' unique de-risking approach focuses on a diverse pipeline of compounds that have prior evidence in humans, positioning the company well as an emerging leader in the mental health space.
atai Life Sciences (Nasdaq: ATAI) is a leading biotech with a novel de-risked approach to addressing the mental health crisis. The company has a current market cap of~ $181M (11/27/23) and is currently trading under its cash position of $209M (September 30, 2023). This could increase significantly if its programs continue to be successful.
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