UK psychedelic medicine startup Compass Pathways has filed to go public via a U.S. IPO under the ticker CMPS.
The Company, which was launched around four years ago, recived early funding from Peter Thiel: co-founder of PayPal and early investor in Facebook. Compass’ largest shareholder is ATAI Life Sciences.
Now, the Company is seeking to go public in the U.S., in order to fund their studies of psychedelic substances such as psilocybin in the treatment of mental health issues.
The Company is already active in conducting clinical trials, including a large trial of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. The radnomised controlled phase 2b study of psilocybin therapy is being conducted at 20 sites across Europe and North America.
This is one of the most anticipated IPOs in the space, other than that of the parent company ATAI which many investors are eager to see materialise.
While several psychedelic companies have already entered the Canadian stock market, it looks like Compass Pathways will end up being the first one to go public on a U.S. stock market. This is exciting news to many people, but it comes with a heavy dose of controversy. In addition to being backed by Peter Thiel, the company has also done a lot of things that have been concerning to the psychedelic community.
Regardless, this is probably just the beginning of psychedelic companies on U.S. stock markets like the NASDAQ, and we’re likely to see even more follow suit shortly.