It’s boomtime for corporate psychedelia.

In the past few weeks, biotech startup MindMed secured $259m to fund its development pipeline, and competitors atai Life Sciences and Beckley Psytech merged to form AtaiBeckley.

Despite the hype around the benefits of psychedelics for mental health treatment, political economist Dr Sandy Brian Hager warns the “shroom boom” may be heading for a bust.

His study suggests investors could be spooked once more, because:

- Difficult to patent: Psychedelics cannot easily be patented, which turns off investors

- Unpredictable effects: Trips are subjective and can last up to 15 hours, complicating laboratory testing.

Pharma startups are responding by developing new classes of drugs:

- “Neuroplastogens”: All the warm and fuzzy feelings of connection without the hallucinations

- Ultra-short, intense trips: Newer compounds that cause very intense trips lasting only minutes, “at the time scale of a dental cleaning”.

For all the talk of a mental health revolution, psychedelics may deliver little more than business as usual, says Dr Hager. 

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