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.
