Psilera Inc., a biotechnology company developing therapies for hard-to-treat neurological disorders, and atai Life Sciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the treatment of mental health disorders, have signed a licensing agreement under which atai has acquired Psilera’s DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine) patent portfolio, including all granted and pending patents related to DMT and other related psychedelics.

“We’re pleased to collaborate with atai on the DMT patent portfolio given their leadership in psychedelic drug development,” said Dr. Chris Witowski, Co-Founder and CEO of Psilera. “This outcome helps us to advance the clinical development of our lead asset PSIL-006 in frontotemporal dementia and our leading next-generation neuroplastogen pipeline.”

Dr. Srinivas Rao, Co-Founder and CEO of atai, added, “This agreement strengthens our DMT patent portfolio and enables us to further explore the therapeutic potential of DMT for a range of disorders. It also allows us to potentially expand into several other formulations.”

Since its founding in 2019, Psilera has developed and patented several DMT-specific formulations with optimized bioavailability for clinical and outpatient use across a broad range of neurological indications. Under the terms of the Agreement, Psilera will receive an upfront payment, and will be eligible for payments related to future development milestones, as well as royalties on commercial product sales.

Psilera will continue to expand its pipeline of novel neuroplastogens compounds while advancing PSIL-006 to the clinic for first-in-human trials expected in 2026.