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What to know about the booming psychedelics industry, where companies are racing to turn magic mushrooms and MDMA into approved medicinesylee@businessinsider.com (Yeji Jesse Lee)
© jackfoto/iStock/Getty Images Plus Psilocybin mushrooms on a mossy log jackfoto/iStock/Getty Images Plus
A year ago, nonprofits and scrappy startups made up the psychedelics space.
Now, companies are raising millions from investors and going public on major exchanges.
Here's what you need to know about the booming psychedelics industry.
The psychedelics space is booming.
Over the few years, startups focused on turning psychedelic compounds into approved medicines have raised hundreds of millions of dollars from private investors and dozens have gone public.
Research on compounds like psilocybin, the active compound found in magic mushrooms, and MDMA is resurfacing after years of neglect amid the war on drugs.
As companies get closer to receiving approval from the Food and Drug Administration to bring their psychedelic treatments to patients, they've also been planning out their patent strategies to carve out their share of the market.
Here's a look at the booming psychedelics industry:
© Anitram/Shutterstock Psilocybin mushrooms Anitram/Shutterstock
VCs have deployed millions into psychedelics startups — here's what they say will happen next
Venture-capital investors have been at the center of the psychedelics boom. In early 2020, startups in the space said they were beginning to see signs that investor appetite was growing.
Then, we saw a flurry of activity, which one industry exec called a "psychedelic renaissance."
Soon, VC firms focused on psychedelics companies specifically began to emerge. Insider's list of the top 11 venture-capital investors in the space collectively deployed $139.8 million into startups in just a few short years.
They also gave us their predictions for the coming months. Some told us that biotech giants were looking to get into the space, while others predicted a boom in tech companies and clinics that would lay the groundwork for when medications come to market. We can also expect to see new compounds and a slew of startup failures, they said.
The top 3 VC firms told Insider about the green and red flags they see among startups in the space.
Read more:
Meet the top 11 VCs who've bet the most cash on turning MDMA and magic mushrooms into medical treatments
Top VCs in psychedelics say Big Pharma is knocking at the door — and it could fuel a wave of deals
Top VCs predict new compounds and impending failures will shape the future of the psychedelics industry
3 top VCs who've sunk the most cash into psychedelics say they prioritize data, deep expertise, and a clear market strategy when placing their bets
Mainstream startup accelerators are also eyeing the space
© Provided by Business Insider Woven Science and Founders Factory are teaming up to create an accelerator program for psychedelics startups. From left: Sahil Sachdev, head of venture design at Founders Factory; Nick von Christierson, CEO & Co-Founder at Woven Science; Shona Chalmers, venture design lead at Founders Factory; Damian Routley, chief commercial officer at Founders Factory Woven Science & Founders Factory
In a signal that the psychedelics space is becoming increasingly mainstream, startup accelerators known for investing in tech, retail, and healthcare are jumping into funding companies in the industry.
Famed startups accelerator Y Combinator is dabbling in psychedelics: over the past few years, the organization has accepted at least four startups into its program. Insider spoke to three of the startups to ask them about their experiences and the advice they would give to other founders looking to be accepted.
Founders Factory, an accelerator that's worked with companies like L'Oréal, Johnson & Johnson, and Marks & Spencer, is an example of another mainstream player that's eyeing the $100 billion industry.
The organization is partnering with psychedelics company Woven Science to to support a handful of early-stage startups focused on psychedelics-based mental-health treatments.
Read more:
The famed startup accelerator Y Combinator is wading into the $100 billion psychedelics industry. Here's how 3 psychedelics firms got into the program.
A startup accelerator that's worked with J&J and L'Oréal is getting into psychedelics as the industry goes mainstream
In a signal that the psychedelics space is becoming increasingly mainstream, startup accelerators known for investing in tech, retail, and healthcare are jumping into funding companies in the industry.
Famed startups accelerator Y Combinator is dabbling in psychedelics: over the past few years, the organization has accepted at least four startups into its program. Insider spoke to three of the startups to ask them about their experiences and the advice they would give to other founders looking to be accepted.
Founders Factory, an accelerator that's worked with companies like L'Oréal, Johnson & Johnson, and Marks & Spencer, is an example of another mainstream player that's eyeing the $100 billion industry.
The organization is partnering with psychedelics company Woven Science to to support a handful of early-stage startups focused on psychedelics-based mental-health treatments.
Read more:
The famed startup accelerator Y Combinator is wading into the $100 billion psychedelics industry. Here's how 3 psychedelics firms got into the program.
A startup accelerator that's worked with J&J and L'Oréal is getting into psychedelics as the industry goes mainstream
CEOs set the tone for the burgeoning space
© Provided by Business Insider ATAI Life Sciences CEO Florian Brand. ATAI Life Sciences
A slew of companies have entered the psychedelics industry, but a few stand out as frontrunners.
In February 2020, Atai CEO Florian Brand said that he was turning to pharma and biotech investors as the company looked to further grow. At the time, Atai was a private company that made headlines for winning over backers like Mike Novogratz and Peter Thiel.
In March of this year, the company raised a record $157 million, pushing psychedelics further into the mainstream.
Meanwhile, change has been bubbling on the state and local levels. In November, Oregon legalized psilocybin for therapeutic purposes — but that doesn't mean you'll see the giants rush in.
The biggest companies in the space told Insider they were focused on seeking approval for their experimental substances from the Food and Drug Administration. Atai founder Christian Angermayer said recently that while he personally supports decriminalization, he thinks legalizing psychedelics could create a backlash for the industry.
Compass Pathways CEO George Goldsmith told Insider soon after the company's IPO last fall that he expects treatments to come on the market by 2025. Atai's Brand said there are challenges to address between now and when treatments become widely available, such as scalability and reimbursement.
Read more:
The CEO of a $1.2 billion psychedelics company told us he expects psilocybin-based treatments by 2025 and predicts a 'Cambrian explosion' of innovation in the industry
The founder of the biggest psychedelics company says legalizing magic mushrooms risks creating a backlash that could undermine the industry
The CEO of the biggest psychedelics company lays out the 3 challenges he has to address before treatments hit the market
A slew of companies have entered the psychedelics industry, but a few stand out as frontrunners.
In February 2020, Atai CEO Florian Brand said that he was turning to pharma and biotech investors as the company looked to further grow. At the time, Atai was a private company that made headlines for winning over backers like Mike Novogratz and Peter Thiel.
In March of this year, the company raised a record $157 million, pushing psychedelics further into the mainstream.
Meanwhile, change has been bubbling on the state and local levels. In November, Oregon legalized psilocybin for therapeutic purposes — but that doesn't mean you'll see the giants rush in.
The biggest companies in the space told Insider they were focused on seeking approval for their experimental substances from the Food and Drug Administration. Atai founder Christian Angermayer said recently that while he personally supports decriminalization, he thinks legalizing psychedelics could create a backlash for the industry.
Compass Pathways CEO George Goldsmith told Insider soon after the company's IPO last fall that he expects treatments to come on the market by 2025. Atai's Brand said there are challenges to address between now and when treatments become widely available, such as scalability and reimbursement.
Read more:
The CEO of a $1.2 billion psychedelics company told us he expects psilocybin-based treatments by 2025 and predicts a 'Cambrian explosion' of innovation in the industry
The founder of the biggest psychedelics company says legalizing magic mushrooms risks creating a backlash that could undermine the industry
The CEO of the biggest psychedelics company lays out the 3 challenges he has to address before treatments hit the market
Startups are raising big sums for drug development and clinics
© Provided by Business Insider The first page of Compass Pathway's 2019 pitch deck. Compass Pathways
Drug development takes a lot of capital, and startups are focused on getting the funding they need.
Insider got ahold of three pitch decks that companies used to raise tens of millions of dollars. Beckley Psytech raised $18.6 million in December to develop a slew of new treatments focused on rare diseases and mental health.
Compass Pathways raised $80 million from investors like Founders Fund in 2019, fueling its rise to the top.
Meanwhile, startups focused on clinics, where psychedelic treatments are expected to be administered, are raising capital too. Novamind raised $7.8 million with this pitch deck.
Drug development takes a lot of capital, and startups are focused on getting the funding they need.
Insider got ahold of three pitch decks that companies used to raise tens of millions of dollars. Beckley Psytech raised $18.6 million in December to develop a slew of new treatments focused on rare diseases and mental health.
Compass Pathways raised $80 million from investors like Founders Fund in 2019, fueling its rise to the top.
Meanwhile, startups focused on clinics, where psychedelic treatments are expected to be administered, are raising capital too. Novamind raised $7.8 million with this pitch deck.
© Provided by Business Insider Psilocybin found in magic mushrooms is a type of psychedelic Alexander Volkov/Getty Images
Another way to get access to capital is to go public, and there are now dozens of psychedelics companies in the US and Canada.
We broke down the 7 companies with the biggest market caps and laid out their business models, drug pipelines, and timeline to get treatments to market.
Read more:
What to know about the major public psychedelics companies, including a guide to their business models and when they expect to sell medications
See the pitch deck a psychedelics startup just used to raise $18.6 million to develop new treatments derived from the Sonoran Desert toad
See the 20-slide pitch deck a psychedelics startup used to raise funds to build out a network of ketamine clinics
See the pitch deck that Compass Pathways used to raise $80 million and fuel its rise into one of the world's biggest psychedelics companies
Another way to get access to capital is to go public, and there are now dozens of psychedelics companies in the US and Canada.
We broke down the 7 companies with the biggest market caps and laid out their business models, drug pipelines, and timeline to get treatments to market.
Read more:
What to know about the major public psychedelics companies, including a guide to their business models and when they expect to sell medications
See the pitch deck a psychedelics startup just used to raise $18.6 million to develop new treatments derived from the Sonoran Desert toad
See the 20-slide pitch deck a psychedelics startup used to raise funds to build out a network of ketamine clinics
See the pitch deck that Compass Pathways used to raise $80 million and fuel its rise into one of the world's biggest psychedelics companies
The top startups are racing forward
© The Synthesis Institute A look at a legal psychedelic retreat hosted by The Synthesis Institute The Synthesis Institute
Private startups are still a core part of the space.
Earlier this year, we published a list of the psychedelics startups that raised the most cash in 2020. The 14 names on that list raised over $222 million.
We recently asked the biggest investors in the space to name two top startups in the industry — one they had invested in and one in which they hadn't — and came back with 15 names.
Read more:
Meet the top 14 psychedelics startups raising the most cash to develop new ways of treating depression, addiction, and more
VCs name the top 15 startups in the psychedelics industry
Private startups are still a core part of the space.
Earlier this year, we published a list of the psychedelics startups that raised the most cash in 2020. The 14 names on that list raised over $222 million.
We recently asked the biggest investors in the space to name two top startups in the industry — one they had invested in and one in which they hadn't — and came back with 15 names.
Read more:
Meet the top 14 psychedelics startups raising the most cash to develop new ways of treating depression, addiction, and more
VCs name the top 15 startups in the psychedelics industry
As drug discovery and development heats up, companies are using patents to raise money and protect market share
© Provided by Business Insider Psychedelics companies are using patents to raise funds and protect future market shares. Marianne Ayala/Insider
Psychedelics treatments based on psilocybin and MDMA are inching closer to FDA approval.
In November, Compass Pathways, one of the few psychedelics companies in mid-stage trials of its psychedelic treatment, released data around its phase IIb trials for its a synthetic version psilocybin, the psychoactive component found in magic mushrooms, to treat treatment-resistant depression, or depression that doesn't get better with at least two other treatments.
Compass is also in the midst of a brewing debate over the role that patents should play in the world of psychedelics, which has traditionally been a field defined by open science and natural compounds. Critics say the psychedelics giant is attempting to dominate the industry with its overreaching patent strategy, while Compass says it is only using patents to protect new inventions.
But virtually every company developing psychedelics as FDA-approved treatments is employing a patent strategy to protect its market share and raise money from investors. Patent lawyers told Insider that a slew of patent disclosures could determine the winners and losers of the space.
Read more:
Experts share how a brewing fight could shape the future of the $100 billion psychedelics industry
Compass Pathways released its latest study on a psychedelic to treat depression. A top Wall Street analyst says the results are 'very encouraging.'
The future of the psychedelics industry hinges on patents. Whoever wins could make billions.
Academics, lawyers, and analysts are wading into the burgeoning space
Psychedelics treatments based on psilocybin and MDMA are inching closer to FDA approval.
In November, Compass Pathways, one of the few psychedelics companies in mid-stage trials of its psychedelic treatment, released data around its phase IIb trials for its a synthetic version psilocybin, the psychoactive component found in magic mushrooms, to treat treatment-resistant depression, or depression that doesn't get better with at least two other treatments.
Compass is also in the midst of a brewing debate over the role that patents should play in the world of psychedelics, which has traditionally been a field defined by open science and natural compounds. Critics say the psychedelics giant is attempting to dominate the industry with its overreaching patent strategy, while Compass says it is only using patents to protect new inventions.
But virtually every company developing psychedelics as FDA-approved treatments is employing a patent strategy to protect its market share and raise money from investors. Patent lawyers told Insider that a slew of patent disclosures could determine the winners and losers of the space.
Read more:
Experts share how a brewing fight could shape the future of the $100 billion psychedelics industry
Compass Pathways released its latest study on a psychedelic to treat depression. A top Wall Street analyst says the results are 'very encouraging.'
The future of the psychedelics industry hinges on patents. Whoever wins could make billions.
Academics, lawyers, and analysts are wading into the burgeoning space
© Provided by Business Insider DMT research at Imperial College London Thomas Angus, Imperial College London
Meanwhile, it's not just investors and companies that are building out the foundation for what could become a $100 billion market.
Academics have continued to publish promising studies on the benefits of psychedelic compounds.
Wealthy philanthropists are responsible for the rush of funding entering academia as prestigious universities set up psychedelic research centers. One scientist told us that as psychedelic research has emerged from the fringes, donors have begun to catch the "psychedelic bug."
"What psychedelics seems to do is, when it grabs you, you really seem to get it," he said.
Lawyers and analysts are also wading into the space. As a slew of companies began to go public, analysts at investment banks began to cover the industry. Lawyers originally focused on cannabis clients also took the plunge.
Read more:
A Canadian investment bank that capitalized on the cannabis rush is now looking toward a new market. Meet the first analyst covering the burgeoning psychedelics industry.
Cannabis lawyers are wading into the psychedelics industry as companies push forward with mega-deals and medical trials to win a slice of the $100 billion market
Wealthy donors are fueling a psychedelics renaissance as universities vie for funding to study 'magic mushrooms' and MDMA
A landmark study shows the main compound in magic mushrooms could rival a leading depression drug
This article was first published on Aug 3, 2021 and was updated on Jan 14, 2022.
Meanwhile, it's not just investors and companies that are building out the foundation for what could become a $100 billion market.
Academics have continued to publish promising studies on the benefits of psychedelic compounds.
Wealthy philanthropists are responsible for the rush of funding entering academia as prestigious universities set up psychedelic research centers. One scientist told us that as psychedelic research has emerged from the fringes, donors have begun to catch the "psychedelic bug."
"What psychedelics seems to do is, when it grabs you, you really seem to get it," he said.
Lawyers and analysts are also wading into the space. As a slew of companies began to go public, analysts at investment banks began to cover the industry. Lawyers originally focused on cannabis clients also took the plunge.
Read more:
A Canadian investment bank that capitalized on the cannabis rush is now looking toward a new market. Meet the first analyst covering the burgeoning psychedelics industry.
Cannabis lawyers are wading into the psychedelics industry as companies push forward with mega-deals and medical trials to win a slice of the $100 billion market
Wealthy donors are fueling a psychedelics renaissance as universities vie for funding to study 'magic mushrooms' and MDMA
A landmark study shows the main compound in magic mushrooms could rival a leading depression drug
This article was first published on Aug 3, 2021 and was updated on Jan 14, 2022.
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