Today, the acquisition of @ataibeckley, the psychedelics biotech company I founded in 2017, by @EliLillyandCo for up to $ 3.8 billion closed, marking one of the largest biotech acquisitions of the year - and the largest transaction in the history of the psychedelic sector. When I first started contemplating bringing psychedelics back into mainstream medicine in 2014 - which ultimately resulted in founding $CMPS and, shortly after, $ATAI in 2017 - it was widely seen as a crazy idea with virtually no chance of success. Looking back today, it is almost funny how quickly collective memory changes. Today, psychedelic medicine feels almost inevitable. Back then, it was anything but. And I am very proud and satisfied that I was able to play the role of one of the lead evangelists of this new era of mental health treatments. I expressed all my thoughts and feelings in the blog post I published on the day the acquisition was announced. Feel free to revisit it: But there is one point I want to emphasize especially today: I believe Lilly is the best partner we could have wished for. Not only is Lilly the largest and most successful pharmaceutical company in the world, but throughout every interaction - both before and after signing - they have demonstrated a deep understanding of the importance of bringing these valuable therapeutics back into the medical world and making them available to patients as soon as possible. As I wrote in my blog post: Psychedelics needed an evangelist ten years ago. Now it is all about commercialization. And I cannot think of a better rollout machine than Eli Lilly. And, as you have probably already guessed, selling AtaiBeckley certainly does NOT mean that I will be stepping away from neuroscience - and especially not from psychedelics. 😉 I believe more strongly than ever that the brain and our consciousness represent humanity’s final frontier - and one we need to explore with urgency, particularly as increasingly capable, and potentially sentient and conscious, AI systems move closer to reality. I have some major news coming over the next few weeks, which may blow your mind, so make sure you follow me and turn on notifications if you don’t want to miss what’s next.