Adam JacksonClinical-stage biopharmaceutical Atai Life Sciences (NASDAQ: ATAI) announced a reshuffling of its top brass as it reported its first quarter earnings ending March 31. The firm also gave some other corporate updates and touted its cash runway.
In a planned transition, co-founder Florian Brand will step down as chief executive officer by year’s end, the Berlin-based company said in a news release Wednesday. Srinivas Rao, the other co-founder and current chief scientific officer, will assume the role of co-CEO on June 1 before becoming sole CEO subject to appointment requirements, according the firm.
Brand, who co-founded atai in 2018, cited the company’s recent clinical milestones and said he was “confident in passing the torch” to Dr. Rao to lead atai’s “next phase.” Rao has over 24 years of drug development experience.
“With his extensive experience in late stage drug development, (Srinivas) has the right profile and skillset to lead atai into its next evolutionary phase,” founder and chairman Christian Angermayer said in a statement.
Financially, atai had cash and securities worth $121.3 million at the end of March, down from $154.2 million at 2023 year-end. However, it expects its current funds and debt facility to sustain operations into 2026.
R&D expenses fell year-over-year to $11.5 million, while general and administrative costs declined slightly to $12.6 million. Net loss was $26.7 million.
On the pipeline front, atai provided updates on its lead candidates targeting treatment-resistant depression, PTSD and other mental health disorders. Dosing has begun in a Phase 1b trial for its DMT compound VLS-01, with data expected in the second half of 2024. A Phase 2 study in treatment-resistant depression patients is slated to start around year-end.
For BPL-003, an intranasal 5-MeO-DMT formulation, positive Phase 2a data showed rapid and durable antidepressant effects. A Phase 2b readout in treatment-resistant depression is expected in the second half of 2024 as well.
Compass Pathways’ psilocybin therapy COMP360 demonstrated durable improvement in PTSD symptoms in a Phase 2 study, atai said. Phase 3 data from a “pivotal” trial in treatment-resistant depression is anticipated in the fourth quarter.
