Wall Street is investing tens of millions of dollars in psychedelic drugs addressing mental health that are more affordable than therapy and better-known treatments.
The companies’ fundraising overlaps with an abrupt sell-off in biotech stocks that impacted the commercial potential of hallucinogens.
- Some pharmaceutical companies are testing psychedelic compounds that don’t cause hallucinations or euphoria, allowing for shorter and cheaper treatments.
- Transcend Therapeutics Inc. raised $40M to create a PTSD treatment requiring about half the amount of therapy as treatments with MDMA or ecstasy do.
- Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Lusaris Therapeutics Inc. have raised around $100M for similar products treating depression.
- Small Pharma addresses depression with Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a fast-acting drug related to ayahuasca.
- The London-based biotech company raised $52M in 2021.
- Psilocybin, the active chemical in hallucinogenic mushrooms, is not patentable as it occurs naturally, while synthetic drugs like LSD and MDMA have been manufactured.
- L.E.K. Consulting estimated that global revenue from psychedelics could reach $8B by 2027.
