-- Strategic combination establishes a market-leading mental health company 
      with a pipeline that includes potentially transformative, rapid-acting 
      psychedelic assets differentiated by their convenient route of 
      administration and short time-in-clinic 
 
   -- Combined company will operate under the name atai Beckley with a joint 
      leadership team and Board that leverage the deep psychedelic, drug 
      development and CNS expertise within both organizations 
 
   -- Topline data from the Phase 2b study of BPL-003 in patients with 
      treatment-resistant depression $(TRD.UK)$ is expected in mid-2025 - the 
      largest controlled trial of mebufotenin (5-MeO-DMT) and the first and 
      only controlled trial to investigate mebufotenin in the U.S. 
 
   -- The all-share transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025 
 
   -- Concurrent $30.0M private placement by Ferring Ventures S.A. and Adage 
      Capital Partners LP 
 
   -- Conference call scheduled for 8:00am EDT today 

NEW YORK and BERLIN and OXFORD, United Kingdom, June 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- atai Life Sciences $(ATAI)$ ("atai" or "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company on a mission to develop highly effective mental health treatments to transform patient outcomes, and Beckley Psytech Limited ("Beckley"), a private clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering the next generation of mental health treatments, today announced a definitive agreement under which atai and Beckley plan to combine in an all-share transaction subject to pre-agreed BPL-003 (mebufotenin benzoate) Phase 2b success criteria.

"The strategic combination marks a transformational moment, solidifying us as a leader in rapid-acting and accessible psychedelic treatments for mental health conditions with a pipeline of potential first-in-class and best-in-class assets," stated Srinivas Rao, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of atai. "With a unified vision and a synergistic pipeline, we believe we are well-positioned to unlock the strategic value of our clinical development programs for both patients and shareholders. Together, we plan to move confidently towards our goal of bringing innovative interventional psychiatry therapies to patients in need of new treatments."

Cosmo Feilding Mellen, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Beckley added, "This combination brings together two highly complementary pipelines to create a market leader at the forefront of psychiatric care. Clinical data has shown the rapid and durable effects of our compounds, as well as their potential to fit within the existing treatment paradigm established by SPRAVATO$(R)$ . We believe that the unified business will be even better positioned to accelerate development, drive long-term value for shareholders, and - most importantly - deliver meaningful innovation for patients."

"This transaction marks a pivotal milestone in delivering on the strategic vision we set forth from the start of atai in 2018: to be the leader in the psychedelic space," added Christian Angermayer, Co-Founder and Chairman of atai. "I am also very pleased to announce the concurrent financing with existing investors from both companies. The continued support from Ferring Ventures, a valued investor in atai, and Adage Capital, a longstanding investor in Beckley, further validates the strength and potential of this combination."

Transaction Benefits

   -- Market-Leading Pipeline: atai Beckley will boast a synergistic fully 
      owned pipeline that includes proprietary, rapid-acting psychedelic 
      compounds differentiated by their convenient route of administration and 
      short time-in-clinic. 
 
   -- Near-Term Clinical Milestones: Topline data from the eight-week, 
      randomized core stage of Beckley's BPL-003 Phase 2b trial in 
      treatment-resistant depression (NCT05870540) is expected in mid-2025, 
      representing a potentially significant value inflection point. The study 
      builds on previously reported open-label results which demonstrated that 
      a single dose of BPL-003, when given as a monotherapy or alongside SSRIs, 
      was well-tolerated and could produce a rapid and lasting antidepressant 
      effect for up to three months. 
 
   -- Financial Synergies and Strong IP Portfolio: Cash runway through multiple 
      Phase 2 clinical catalysts, near and long-term operational synergies, as 
      well as a strong IP portfolio with granted U.S. patents out to 2043. 
 
   -- Unified Vision and Team: The new entity is expected to leverage the 
      expertise, teams, and networks of both organizations to accelerate the 
      development and commercialization of transformative mental health 
      treatments. 

Transaction Terms

atai made a strategic investment in Beckley in January 2024. Under the terms of the deal, Beckley's shareholders (other than atai) will be issued approximately 105 million new shares as consideration for the remaining shares of Beckley not presently held by atai. These newly issued shares equate to approximately 31% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis, based on the treasury stock method, upon closing of the transaction and the concurrent private placement, and value Beckley at approximately $390 million.

These newly issued atai shares are subject to a lock-up wherein, following the completion of the lock-up period, 1/12 of the shares are released every month. Additionally, Apeiron Investment Group, the family office of Mr. Angermayer, voluntarily entered into a similar lock-up agreement covering all of its shares in atai.

Beckley also intends to distribute Eleusis Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries, which hold assets and funding related to its second clinical-stage asset, ELE-101, out of Beckley prior to closing of the transaction.

Timing and Approvals

atai's Supervisory Board and Management Board and Beckley's Board of Directors have approved the transaction.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025, subject to approval of the share issuance by the shareholders of atai and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

Concurrent Financing

Concurrent with the transaction, atai also executed a $30.0 million private placement with Ferring Ventures S.A. and Adage Capital Partners LP. This financing is not contingent on closing of the transaction. The private placement is expected to close on June 3, 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.

The securities being issued and sold in the private placement have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or any state's securities laws, and will be issued and sold in a private placement in reliance on Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. The securities may not be offered or sold in the United States, except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. atai granted registration rights to the purchasers in the private placement, and has agreed to file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") registering the resale of the common shares issued in the private placement and the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the pre-funded warrants issued in the private placement.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

Conference Call

atai and Beckley will host a conference call and live webcast today Monday, June 2, 2025 at 8:00 a.m. EDT. The conference call can be accessed by dialing 1-800-715-9871 for participants in the U.S. and 1-646-307-1963 for international callers, with the Conference ID: 1459387. The webcast can be accessed on the Investors section of atai's corporate website under Events. The presentation and an archived replay of the webcast will be available in the same section of the website for a minimum of 30 days following the event.

Advisors

Guggenheim Securities is serving as financial advisor to atai and Latham & Watkins LLP is serving as its legal counsel. Cantor is serving as financial advisor to Beckley, and CMS and Mayer Brown are serving as its legal counsel.

Guggenheim Securities is acting as the lead placement agent for the private placement. Berenberg is acting as joint-lead placement agent for the private placement.

About atai Life Sciences

atai is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company on a mission to develop highly effective mental health treatments to transform patient outcomes. atai's pipeline of psychedelic-based therapies includes VLS-01 (buccal film DMT) for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and EMP-01 (oral R-MDMA) for social anxiety disorder, which are in Phase 2 clinical development. They are also advancing a drug discovery program to identify novel, non-hallucinogenic 5-HT2AR agonists for TRD. These programs aim to address the complex nature of mental health providing commercially scalable interventional psychiatry therapies that can integrate seamlessly into healthcare systems. For the latest updates and to learn more about atai's mission, visit www.atai.com or follow the Company on LinkedIn and on X.

About Beckley Psytech

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June 02, 2025 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT)