Biotech Firm Atai Life Sciences Plans to Buy $5 Million in Bitcoin
Atai Life Sciences, a NASDAQ-listed biopharmaceutical company, has announced plans to purchase $5 million worth of Bitcoin. The company, which develops mental health treatments using psychedelics such as DMT and MDMA, joins several other public medical companies that have recently invested in cryptocurrency.
Christian Angermayer, founder and chair of Atai, explained the decision in a March 20 Substack post. "Drug development is a cash-hungry, long-term venture," he wrote. "The necessary steps to achieve regulatory approval can easily take more than a decade."
The company's Bitcoin purchase is intended primarily as a long-term inflation hedge and a short-term diversification strategy. At current prices of around $84,300, Atai would be able to buy approximately 59 BTC, making it the 52nd largest holder among public firms according to Bitbo data.
Angermayer noted that the prolonged approval process for bringing drugs to market exposes biotech firms to financial risks. This challenge has been made worse by sticky inflation and high interest rates, creating what he calls a "biotech winter."
The traditional approach in the industry has been to keep cash reserves in near-zero-yield accounts. "Preserving capital was more important than earning a return on their cash balance," Angermayer stated, suggesting that Bitcoin might help address "the twin threats of inflation and low-yielding reserves."
Several other medical companies have already invested in Bitcoin:
- Quantum BioPharma has spent $3.5 million on BTC and other cryptocurrencies
- Semler Scientific has invested $280.4 million to acquire 3,192 BTC
- Hoth Therapeutics, Acurx Pharmaceuticals, and Enlivex Therapeutics each committed to $1 million Bitcoin purchases
Despite this crypto strategy, Atai is keeping most of its reserves in US dollars, short-term securities, and stocks to maintain operations through 2027. The company's share price closed at $1.37 on March 20, down 1.44% for the day and nearly 93% below its mid-2021 public debut peak, though it remains up 3% for the year.
The trend of corporate Bitcoin investment extends beyond biotech firms, with MicroStrategy leading as the largest corporate holder. The Michael Saylor-led company recently purchased 130 more Bitcoin for approximately $10.7 million at an average price of $82,981 per Bitcoin. MicroStrategy now holds 499,226 Bitcoin acquired for $33.1 billion, with an average cost of $66,360 per Bitcoin.
