Shares of clinical-stage company AtaiBeckley ATAI surged 63.3% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after a Bloomberg report stated, citing people familiar with the matter, that pharma bigwig Eli Lilly LLY is in discussions for a potential acquisition of the company.
Per the report, Lilly could announce the acquisition of AtaiBeckley as soon as this week. However, the deal terms, including the acquisition value and the asset driving Lilly's interest, were not disclosed.
The report added that Lilly is negotiating the deal at a premium.
ATAI Share Price Performance
Year to date, shares of AtaiBeckley have rallied 31% compared with the industry’s rise of 1.8%.
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New York-based AtaiBeckley is focused on developing interventional psychiatric medicines targeting difficult-to-treat mental health conditions. The company’s pipeline includes BPL-003, VLS-01 and EMP-01, alongside some discovery-stage efforts and other programs.
ATAI’s lead pipeline candidate, BPL-003, an intranasal formulation of mebufotenin benzoate, is being developed as a potential treatment for people living with treatment-resistant depression (TRD).
VLS-01 is in mid-stage development for TRD, while EMP-01 is being developed as a potential treatment for people living with social anxiety disorder in a phase II study.
What is Driving LLY’s Reported Interest in ATAI?
Lilly's reported interest in AtaiBeckley appears to be driven by the latter's expanding pipeline of novel psychedelic therapies for mental health disorders, particularly BPL-003 for TRD. The candidate has shown encouraging mid-stage data, earned FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation and is on track to enter phase III studies shortly.
With Lilly looking to strengthen its neuroscience portfolio, the potential acquisition of ATAI could provide it with a differentiated late-stage asset in the rapidly evolving psychiatric disease space.
Lilly has been actively expanding its neuroscience franchise through recent acquisitions. The company completed the acquisition of Centessa Pharmaceuticals, a biotech developing orexin receptor 2 agonists for narcolepsy and other sleep-wake disorders, last month.
In 2026, Eli Lilly announced several proposed acquisitions, including Ajax Therapeutics, Kelonia Therapeutics, Orna Therapeutics, CrossBridge Bio and Ventyx Biosciences, to diversify beyond its GLP-1 franchise and strengthen its pipeline in oncology, neuroscience, RNA and cell therapies.
LLY also agreed to acquire three private vaccine developers in May 2026, adding programs targeting shingles, bacterial infections and Epstein-Barr virus.
AtaiBeckley Inc Price
AtaiBeckley Inc price | AtaiBeckley Inc Quote
ATAI’s Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider
AtaiBeckley currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Some other top-ranked stocks in the biotech sector are Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals KNSA and Liquidia Corporation LQDA, each currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Over the past 60 days, estimates for Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals’ 2026 earnings per share have risen from $1.24 to $1.25, while estimates for 2027 have increased from $1.70 to $1.76 during the same time. KNSA shares have soared 49.5% year to date.
Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals’ earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters, while missing the same on the remaining two occasions, with the average surprise being 1.53%.
Over the past 60 days, estimates for Liquidia’s 2026 earnings per share have risen from $2.97 to $3.02, while estimates for 2027 have increased from $4.81 to $4.92 during the same time. LQDA shares have surged 125.4% year to date.
Liquidia’s earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters, while missing the same on the remaining occasion, with the average surprise being 54.40%.
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Eli Lilly and Company (LLY): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).