Atai Life Sciences (NASDAQ: ATAI) recently announced the closing of its public offering of 27,283,750 common shares, including the full exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase an additional 3,558,750 common shares at a public offering price of $5.48 per share. This resulted in aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $149.5 million before deducting underwriting discounts, commissions, and other offering expenses.
The company's financing involved participation from new investors such as Janus Henderson Investors, Foresite Capital, Deep Track Capital, and HBM Partners, along with existing investors including Ferring Ventures, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Ally Bridge Group, Woodline Partners LP, and Adar1 Capital Management, as well as new and existing large investment management firms.
Atai intends to use the net proceeds from the offering, combined with existing cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, and other liquid assets, to advance the clinical development across its pipeline of product candidates and programs. This includes funding the planned phase 3 clinical program for BPL-003 (Mebufotenin Benzoate) nasal spray through the top-line data readout from the first phase 3 clinical trial, completing the phase 2 clinical trial of VLS-01 (Buccal Film DMT), and completing the phase 2a study for EMP-01 (Oral R-MDMA), as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes.
Based on the planned use of proceeds and Atai’s current operating plan, the company estimates that its existing cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, and other liquid assets will be sufficient to fund operations into 2029.
The company's founder and chairman, Christian Angermayer, expressed gratitude for the successful financing and the commitment from both existing and new institutional investors, reflecting their confidence in Atai’s pipeline and long-term vision. He highlighted the potential of psychedelics to redefine the treatment landscape for mental health disorders and emphasized the company's mission to bring transformative therapeutics to patients as swiftly as possible.
Jefferies LLC acted as the lead bookrunner for the offering, with Berenberg Capital Markets LLC as passive bookrunner, and Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. and Canaccord Genuity LLC as co-managers for the offering.
Atai Life Sciences is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective mental health treatments. Its pipeline includes psychedelic-based therapies such as BPL-003 for treatment-resistant depression, VLS-01 for treatment-resistant depression, and EMP-01 for social anxiety disorder, all of which are in phase 2 clinical development. Additionally, the company is advancing a drug discovery program to identify novel, non-hallucinogenic 5-HT2AR agonists for treatment-resistant depression and opioid use disorder. The market has reacted to these announcements by moving the company's shares -0.47% to a price of $6.42. For more information, read the company's full 8-K submission here.
