Psychedelic Medicines - a Time for Stockpickers

Looking back, I believe 2025 will be remembered as the year psychedelics stepped onto the global stage. Phase 3 data from COMPASS Pathways for psilocybin – on which they doubled down yesterday with more positive data - and, most importantly, strong Phase 2b data from AtaiBeckley, the psychedelics biotech company I founded and chair, for BPL-003 (5-MeO-DMT), were IMHO some of the most compelling clinical results in neuroscience of the last decades.

Read more here about the Phase 2b data for BPL-003

Equally encouraging, both the FDA and HHS signaled strong support for psychedelics as potentially paradigm-shifting treatments.

But amid all the excitement, one thing struck me as being conspicuously absent in 2025: a genuinely differentiated, rigorous investor view on psychedelic stocks. To date, most analysis still falls into the “a rising tide lifts all boats” mentality.

To put it bluntly: IMO, there is still a great deal of nonsense out there with respect to some “psychedelics companies”. And it truly matters - because careless thinking burns investor capital that could otherwise generate real impact and real returns.

As the founder, chairman, and major investor of AtaiBeckley, I’m biased, of course. Or you might say: I have put my money where my mouth is, having invested more than $40m in 2025 alone through various financing rounds of AtaiBeckley, which brings my personal capital invested into AtaiBeckley to over $100m since its foundation. And I have never sold a single share, nor do I intend to. In fact, I have signed a new voluntary lock-up last year. I am this committed because I am convinced of one thing:

I believe only AtaiBeckley has the core ingredients required to become a true mental health pharmaceutical company.

Those ingredients are simple, but rarely found together in a single company:

· Drug candidates with a realistic pathway to approval

· A disciplined portfolio and life-cycle strategy shaped by entrepreneurial judgment

· Strong, defensible patents directed to protecting core aspects of each program, thereby potentially enabling actual commercial capture

· A genuine product-market fit - meaning potential treatments that are designed to be both clinically meaningful and commercially viable

In any other sector, investors and analysts would routinely examine these fundamentals. In psychedelic stocks, strangely, too many still don’t. But ultimately, they will have to – because I expect 2026 to distinguish real companies from mere stories.

Here is why I believe AtaiBeckley is uniquely positioned to win.

1. AtaiBeckley Is the Clear Leader in the Field

I founded AtaiBeckley in 2017. During the first psychedelic hype wave (2019–2021), more than 150 companies suddenly claimed to be “in psychedelics.” Much of it was noise. From what’s publicly available, most of those companies have since vanished - unfortunately, taking investor money and confidence (at least for a while) with them.

From day one, AtaiBeckley’s thesis was rooted in reality:

· Psychedelics are medical treatments.

· Medical treatments require FDA approval.

· FDA approval is only economically viable with proper IP protection.

Because AtaiBeckley moved early - and stayed disciplined - AtaiBeckley has the broadest and most diversified pipeline of all psychedelic companies, with three lead drugs – BPL-003, VLS-01 and EMP-01.

Equally important: For all its product candidates, AtaiBeckley holds what I view as a uniquely strong patent position, controlling imo the sector’s strategic high ground.

It is very important to understand: Strong patents do NOT necessarily prevent competitors from running trials. They do prevent them from commercializing products that infringe on another’s IP. This distinction is imo often misunderstood, especially by investors who equate “running a trial” with “owning a future market.” The two are not the same.

With its growing patent portfolio, AtaiBeckley has built a robust defensive moat that it will defend vigorously. Check out AtaiBeckley’s latest announcement regarding R-MDMA as testament to it.

2. Commercial Viability Will Determine the Winners

Years ago, AtaiBeckley recognized a truth that the market is only now beginning to appreciate:

Efficacy alone is not enough. Delivery and duration determine scalability.

FDA guidance has been consistent: psychedelic therapies can only be administered under medical supervision. This means the cost of the drug + delivery must make economic sense for providers and payers, and it should be as comfortable and straightforward for patients as possible.

Hence, I believe short-acting compounds with convenient dosage forms will win.

AtaiBeckley’s lead assets - BPL-003 (5-MeO-DMT) and VLS-01 (DMT) – are designed to complete the psychological and physiological experiences in about two hours.

Compare this with:

· Approx. 6 hours for psilocybin

· Approx. 12 hours for LSD

The commercial implications are dramatic. For a 12-hour LSD treatment, you would need:

· Multiple nurse/doctor shifts

· Food and hydration protocols

· Infrastructure for potential overnight care, if the trip ends slower than expected (happens regularly, especially as GLP-1s have been reported to affect metabolism and duration)

This is simply not scalable, imo.

The only justification for a long-acting psychedelic would be if its therapeutic profile were truly superior. I do not see that for Psilocybin or LSD compared to 5-MeO-DMT or DMT.

AtaiBeckley aims to clearly demonstrate that superiority with R-MDMA, while simultaneously investing to shorten its duration, still.

The route of administration matters just as much.

I believe the most scalable delivery routes are intranasal and transmucosal. Full stop.

Some competitors pursue suboptimal approaches, in part, because AtaiBeckley owns key patents covering those optimal ones.

· Oral

• Slow, irregular onset complicated by first pass metabolism

· IV delivery

• Severely restricts eligible providers and hence revenue potential

• Invasive and creates patient resistance

• Fails to scale across broad outpatient settings

· Inhalation

• Faces significant FDA hurdles given concerns around pulmonary toxicity, particularly for products delivered repeatedly

• Variable pK and very high initial concentrations can result in unpredictable, sometimes traumatic onset dynamics when used for psychedelics

• As someone who has personally experienced these compounds: I would not take them this way myself, so I don’t intend on supporting developing them this way

In short: Commercial success requires therapies that fit within real-world healthcare environments. AtaiBeckley designs for that reality.

3. Spravato Has Already Built the Market — And Only AtaiBeckley Fits the Model Perfectly

Johnson & Johnson’s Spravato (esketamine) has already validated the category as a blockbuster drug with peak projected annual revenues of over $3B.

Spravato’s model:

• 2-hour supervised administration

• Intranasal delivery

• Large-scale infrastructure roll-out already completed

AtaiBeckley’s two lead drugs BPL-003 and VLS-01 are engineered precisely to fit within this established infrastructure - only with even more convenience for patients and providers:

BPL-003 (5-MeO-DMT)

• Intranasal, like Spravato

• Delivers outcomes at 4 weeks that are comparable to Spravato, but with only one treatment, where Spravato needs 8

• Has the potential to deliver more efficacy at 4 to 6 weeks with a second administration (i.e., two-dose induction)

• Appears to achieve deeper, more durable therapeutic impact

• Appears to avoid the “quick fix” problem of ketamine, in which symptoms frequently return after days or weeks and require repeated dosing

VLS-01 (DMT)

• Gentle transmucosal delivery

• Phase 2 data to be released in the 2nd half of this year

In short: AtaiBeckley is not just fitting into a validated model - it is arguably improving upon it.

2026: The Year Investors Hopefully Start Asking the Right Questions

My hope for 2026 is simple: that investors and analysts move beyond headlines and start evaluating psychedelic companies with the same rigor applied to any other (biotech) investment.

When you look at:

• The patent landscape

• The scalability of delivery routes

• The economic viability of treatment duration

• The real-world product-market fit

… the choice becomes clear to me, and as said above, I am not only talking about it, but have also invested accordingly.

As an added bonus, beyond the fundamentals, AtaiBeckley was domiciled in the Netherlands until the end of last year, which meant it was not eligible for inclusion in major indices. The company completed its re-domiciliation just in time at year-end, and I therefore expect multiple major index inclusions over the coming months.

Hence, I believe AtaiBeckley should be your favourite biotech stock in 2026 😉

Disclaimer

As the founder, Chairman, and largest shareholder of AtaiBeckley, I am naturally biased. I share my perspective because I believe transparency benefits all shareholders. Please conduct your own due diligence, consult financial advisors, review analyst reports, and review AtaiBeckley’s website and SEC filings for a full picture.

Forward-looking Statements

This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “initiate,” “could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “potentially,” “preliminary,” “likely,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements include express or implied statements relating to, among other things: AtaiBeckley’s business strategy and plans; the potential, success and timing of development and progress of trials; expectations regarding AtaiBeckley’s intellectual property portfolio; developments in the regulatory landscape, including regulators’ support for the Company’s candidates and the industry more broadly; and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, research and development and capital expenditures.

Forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. For a full list of risk factors check the section titled “Risk Factors” in AtaiBeckley’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, as such factors may be updated from time to time in AtaiBeckley’s other filings with the SEC. AtaiBeckley disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this communication, other than to the extent required by applicable law.