The Eli Lilly logo appears at the company’s office in San Diego, California, Nov. 21, 2025.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Eli Lilly will acquire psychedelic drugmaker AtaiBeckley for $2.8 billion upfront, the company said Thursday, as momentum grows to use drug versions as psychiatric treatments.
The job gives Lilly access to AtaiBeckley’s experimental DMT drug being studied in Phase 3 clinical trials for treatment-resistant depression. AtaiBeckley develops several other psychedelics for mental health conditions, including one related to MDMA, also known as ecstasy.
AtaiBeckley’s lead drug, BPL-003, is related to dimethyltryptamine, or DMT. The nasal spray is used in a clinic where patients are monitored for about two hours. Results of the first Phase 3 trial are expected in 2029.
“The goal here was to find a different type of drug that would help them, not just change the neurotransmitters in their brain, but actually change the communication of neurons in their brain to try to help them with this disease,” Lilly’s chief scientific officer, Dan Skovronsky, said Thursday in an interview with CNBC.
He said the AtaiBeckley team found that the drug can have an immediate and profound effect that can last for months, making BPL-003 “a very different type of drug for treating depression.” People may receive treatment a few times a year, Skovronsky said.
The acquisition price of $6.75 per share in cash, or about $2.8 billion, is 26% higher than AtaiBeckley’s Wednesday close of $5.36 per share. Lilly could pay up to an additional $2.50 per share, or $1 billion, if the company’s drugs meet certain development and regulatory milestones.
The deal marks the latest sign of momentum behind psychedelics. The Trump administration has prioritized the development of cognitive-based treatments for mental health conditions, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Lilly has a long history in mental health. Its blockbuster antidepressant Prozac revolutionized the treatment of depression and fueled Lilly’s last big sales before the GLP-1 explosion. Skovronsky said that when Lilly started working in this area, there was a stigma around treating depression. He compared that to other resistance to the concept now and said that is what attracts him to the space.
While Prozac and similar drugs slowly change brain chemicals, psychedelics may speed up neurons to form new connections. Emerging research suggests that people with treatment-resistant depression may not have enough brain plasticity, and these experimental drugs are trying to change that.
“Now we understand the different receptors in the brain that drugs like this bind to, and we understand that those receptors have a signaling cascade inside the neurons that tells them to be more plastic,” Skovronsky said. “Now, is that related to the hallucinogenic experience, or are those two things separate? I think the field is arguing against that right now, but right now, we have a drug that causes both, and because of that, I think it has this really important therapeutic effect.”
It is also the latest deal for Lilly, which has been in a capital spending phase. Before announcing his intention to buy AtaiBeckley, Lilly had said that he would spend more than 10 billion dollars in advance and possibly reach 25 billion dollars in eight acquisitions this year.
The drugmaker is deliberately targeting the latter category and therefore more expensive deals than it has been pursuing as it consolidates its position as the world’s most valuable healthcare company.
“If we see good ideas that we think we can use to help people in need, of course we will make deals,” said Skovronsky.
Shares in AtaiBeckley rose more than 30% in morning trading following the announcement.
