Beckley Psytech's investors want to put more money into the psychedelics company at a $200 million valuation

• A Beckley Psytech investor is looking to invest up to an extra $20 million in the biotech startup.
• Noetic Fund wants to back Beckley Psytech at a $200 million valuation, per an email seen by BI.
• The startup is developing a psychedelic-based nasal spray to treat depression.

Beckley Psytech's investors are trying to drum up enthusiasm to put fresh funding into the biotech startup, Business Insider has learned, as Beckley advances through clinical trials for its new psychedelic-based depression drug.

Noetic Fund, a venture firm that backs healthcare and biotech companies and a previous investor in Beckley Psytech, is seeking participants for an investment vehicle to put up to $20 million into Beckley Psytech, according to an email Noetic sent to prospective investors seen by Business Insider.

The raise would value the company at $200 million before the additional funding, giving Beckley Psytech a post-money valuation of up to $220 million after the fundraise, per the email.

The efforts are ongoing and terms of the deal could be subject to change. Noetic Fund didn't respond to requests for comment.

"We are regularly in discussions with both existing shareholders and potential new investors to ensure the company remains well-capitalized. However, there is currently no term sheet in place with any partner and no active transaction is underway," A Beckley Psytech spokesperson said in an email to BI.

Beckley Psytech is developing a drug in the form of a short-duration intranasal spray to target treatment-resistant depression and alcohol use disorder.

The Oxford, United Kingdom-based startup has raised $143 million to date, according to PitchBook. It last announced $50 million in funding in January 2024 from Atai Life Sciences, a German biotech that went public in 2021.

Beckley is one of many companies jumping on the promise of psychedelic compounds for treating depression, alongside multiple public rivals such as GH Research and Compass Pathways.

Those companies are following in the footsteps of Johnson & Johnson, which got approval for its own nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression, Spravato, in 2019. The spray, derived from the dissociative drug ketamine, was the first drug approved to treat depression in more than 35 years.

Still, the Food and Drug Administration has never approved a drug based on classic psychedelics like the hallucinogen psilocybin. (Ketamine and its derivatives are not traditionally considered psychedelics, though they have many psychedelic properties.)

Noetic told prospective investors in its email that Beckley Psytech hopes to go public within 12 months of publishing its phase 2b clinical trial data, or otherwise pursue a strategic M&A deal.

Beckley's beginnings

Beckley Psytech spun out of the Beckley Foundation, a nonprofit set up in the late 1990s to support studies into psychoactive compounds. Beckley Psytech's cofounders Amanda Feilding, founder and director of the Beckley Foundation, and her son CEO Cosmo Feilding Mellen, who spent 10 years at the nonprofit as an advisor and executive director, launched the startup in 2019 to independently develop psychedelic-based drugs for neuropsychiatric disorders.

Beckley Psytech's clinical protocol is led by chief science and medical officer Dr. Rob Conley, who was formerly the chief scientific officer of neuroscience at pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly.

The startup's first drug is based on the psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT, a compound found in the venom of the Sonoran Desert toad, as well as several plant species.

The company is also developing a second program to treat major depression disorder using a synthetic formulation of psilocin, the psychedelic compound in psilocybin mushrooms.

Beckley appears to be a bit behind on producing the trial data for its first drug. The startup said in March that it had completed enrolling patients for phase 2b of its trial and expected to share topline results by mid-2025.

When Atai Life Sciences announced its investment in Beckley Psytech in January 2024, the company said it expected to see published phase 2b data by the second half of 2024.

Atai Life Sciences is Beckley Psytech's largest shareholder, according to the documents seen by BI.