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Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie, the two pharma giants already in the psychedelic space, also eyed AtaiBeckley, according to a source familiar with the situation, but didn’t make an offer before Eli Lilly sealed its $2.8 billion upfront acquisition last week.
The source, who was well-positioned to have insider information but spoke to Endpoints News on the condition of anonymity, said J&J and AbbVie had been in the data room looking at AtaiBeckley during the sale process that ultimately led to a deal with Lilly.
A Lilly representative had no comment on its competitors’ interest in the company, and representatives for AtaiBeckley, J&J and AbbVie didn’t respond to a request for comment as of publication time.
Lilly has been quick to forge acquisitions. The up to $3.8 billion AtaiBeckley purchase, announced last week, marked its 12th acquisition of 2026. Days prior to the agreement, Lilly’s head dealmaker Jacob Van Naarden told Endpoints the company is continuing to look at deals as it broadens its portfolio.
Neuro competition
The AtaiBeckley acquisition marked Lilly’s first known foray into psychedelics, a major validation for the burgeoning niche of the neuroscience field, which has gotten support from the Trump administration. With Lilly being the world’s most valuable pharmaceutical company, the purchase sends a clear signal that drugmakers want in on neuroplastogens that could potentially have profound effects on treating brain health conditions.
“We view the transaction as a strong validation of the psychedelic category and an upward repricing of psychedelic assets,” B Riley Securities analyst Madison El-Saadi wrote in a note to clients last week.
Lilly’s chief scientific officer Dan Skovronsky told CNBC last week that AtaiBeckley’s lead drug BPL-003 could be a “very different type of medicine for treating depression” because of its rapid-acting effect that could potentially last for months.
Other late-stage psychedelic drugmakers such as Compass Pathways and Definium Therapeutics remain independent. Those companies’ experimental drugs require about eight or so hours of monitoring in the clinic, which could be a tough sell for potential pharma acquirers.
BPL-003, however, acts faster and requires less monitoring time. Most patients on the drug, BMO analyst Evan Seigerman wrote in a note to clients last week, “met discharge-readiness criteria within approximately 90 minutes, potentially allowing BPL-003 to fit within the two-hour treatment infrastructure established by Spravato,” J&J’s esketamine depression spray.
Spravato achieved blockbuster status in 2024 and has already brought in $1.05 billion in the first six months of 2026, the healthcare giant reported earlier this month.
AbbVie, meanwhile, has done a couple of deals with Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals to gain access to experimental psychedelics. And Japanese pharma company Otsuka acquired Transcend Therapeutics earlier this year.
Lilly has been building out its neuroscience franchise with recent deals and the hiring of neuroscience president Carole Ho. The drugmaker used to have a major presence in the field with its Prozac depression treatment, but in recent years its neuroscience work has focused on its Alzheimer’s medicine Kisunla.
With plenty of GLP-1-fueled profits to devote to further R&D, Lilly has the most resources to compete with AbbVie and J&J in neuroscience. Both companies have multiple medicines in the field.

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