This Billionaire Made $360 Million Selling His Psychedelic Company To Eli Lilly

Key Points:

• In 2014, German investor Christian Angermayer experienced a transformative psilocybin trip that inspired him to explore psychedelics as potential treatments for mental health issues, leading to the founding of Compass Pathways and Atai (now AtaiBeckley).
• AtaiBeckley was recently acquired by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly for $2.8 billion, with potential additional milestone payments of $1 billion; Angermayer’s 15% stake is valued at approximately $360 million pre-tax.
• Eli Lilly plans to develop AtaiBeckley’s fast-acting nasal spray BPL-003, containing 5-MeO-DMT, for treatment-resistant depression, with Phase III trials expected to start in 2029, marking a significant step for psychedelics in mainstream medicine.
• The acquisition represents the largest deal in the psychedelics sector, signaling Big Pharma’s growing interest in psychedelic-based treatments as commercial opportunities, following the success of drugs like Johnson & Johnson’s Spravato.
• While the deal is celebrated as a milestone, some experts like Rick Doblin express concern about the potential move away from psychedelic-assisted therapy toward purely pharmaceutical approaches without robust therapeutic support.