ATAI Life Sciences(US:ATAI)2022-03-08 18:37Company Overview - atai Life Sciences aims to develop differentiated treatments for patients suffering from mental health disorders [4] - The company's platform consists of 11 drug development programs and 6 enabling technologies, focusing on differentiated and potentially disease-modifying mental health treatments [6] - As of September 30th, 2021, atai Life Sciences had a strong cash position of approximately $430 million [7] Mental Health Burden and Innovation - Mental health disorders have become one of the largest global health burdens, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic [6] - Percentage of US adults experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety rose from 11% in 2019 to 42% at the end of 2020 [12] - Only 7 new drugs have been approved by the FDA for psychiatry disorders since 2015, less than 10% relative to oncology (N=83) [13] Psychedelic Therapies and Regulatory Momentum - Psychedelic therapies are emerging as promising disease-modifying drug candidates with regulatory momentum [15] - The company is responding to the significant unmet need and lack of innovation in the mental health treatment landscape, as the emergence of therapies that previously may have been overlooked or underused , including psychedelic compounds and digital therapeutics [10] Pipeline and Milestones - atai Life Sciences anticipates numerous R&D catalysts over the next 18 months [7] - The company acquired a majority stake in Recognify to develop RL-007 for CIAS [8] - atai launched EmpathBio to develop EMP-01 for PTSD [8] Decentralized Drug Development and Enabling Technologies - The atai platform employs a decentralized drug development process, leveraging the team and enabling technologies to aim for improved probability of clinical success [7, 18] - The company utilizes digital therapeutics to aim for improved safety, efficacy and probability of clinical success across its pipeline [7]