By
Tolu Ajiboye
March 8th, 2024
ATAI Life Sciences cited that the amount of money to be spent on mental health care is expected to hit up to $16 trillion by 2030.
ATAI Life Sciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders, has announced plans to raise $100 million from the public through an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq exchange. According to the prospectus filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company has raised prior findings to private investors.
“To date, we have raised an aggregate of $362.3 million in gross cash proceeds from the sale of our common stock and convertible notes,” the company noted through the prospectus.
Notably, ATAI Life Sciences is said to be backed by billionaire Peter Thiel who has successfully ventured into the technology and financial ecosystem. He has since diversified into other sectors including the health sector among others.
ATAI Life Sciences was founded back in 2018 to meet the huge demand for mental health treatment. Moreover, now when more people have been under the COVID lockdowns and social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus.
ATAI Life Sciences and Its IPO
According to the company, it anticipates using therapies that may have been previously overlooked in mental health cases. Besides, studies have been done and indicate the level of mental health cases both identified and unidentified is expected to spike further in the United States and globally.
“Mental health disorders such as depression, substance use disorder, or SUD, and anxiety, which are among our initial focus indications, are highly prevalent and estimated to affect more than one billion people globally. Additionally, it is expected that more than 50% of the US population will be diagnosed with a mental health disorder at some point in their lifetime, with increasing incidence ascribed to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the company noted in the prospectus.
ATAI Life Sciences cited that the amount of money to be spent on mental health care is expected to hit up to $16 trillion by 2030. “Those suffering from mental health disorders have higher mortality rates than the general population and often experience decreased quality of life as a result of emotional, behavioral or physical manifestations. In addition, the total costs of mental health disorders are significant and expected to increase substantially. Between 2009 and 2019, spending on mental health care in the United States increased by more than 50%, reaching $225 billion, and a Lancet Commission report estimates the global economic cost will reach $16 trillion by 2030,” the company explained.
According to the media outlet CNBC, ATAI Life Sciences could raise $100 million in the planned IPO. The underwriters for the ATAI Life Sciences include Credit Suisse, Citigroup, Cowen, and Berenberg.