Why Are Silicon Valley AND Wall Street Backing Psychedelic Drugs?

• West Coast and East Coast capital is moving into the psychedelics space
• Recent $30 million fund-raising initiative from MAPS relied heavily upon Silicon Valley and Wall Street donors

Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and psychedelic drugs.

Even a few years ago, that phrase would have been looked at as a non sequitur – designed to draw laughs.

Today, it’s becoming a pattern.

The usual suspects

Look behind nearly every major announcement involving the psychedelic drug industry, and the fingerprints of both Silicon Valley and Wall Street will be everywhere.

Case in point.
 

MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, has just successfully completed a $30-million fundraising campaign to finance its Phase III clinical trial for PTSD, using MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.

Of equal significance to the news that Silicon Valley and Wall Street are “pouring money” into psychedelics research is the source of this news story: the Wall Street Journal.

Psychedelic drugs are going mainstream.

Silicon Valley stoked by psychedelics

Silicon Valley’s interest in psychedelic drugs is understandable.

These maverick entrepreneurs are driven by science, not politics. They are not afraid to target politically unpopular opportunities – even if it means taking on government itself.

And in the Land of Unicorns, life sciences companies moving into previously prohibited markets are seen as a particularly intriguing (and potentially lucrative) opportunity.

Silicon Valley icons like PayPal’s Peter Thiel have already made substantial personal commitments to psychedelic drug research and the psychedelics industry itself.
 

Wall Street moves in

That Business Insider headline pretty much sums up Silicon Valley’s attitude toward the psychedelic drug industry. But what about Wall Street’s increasing interest (and participation) in psychedelic drug development?

Wall Street’s motivations are well-understood: M-O-N-E-Y. Here, the equation is much simpler.
 

• Over 1 billion people have substance abuse problems (nicotine, alcohol, prescription drugs, illegal narcotics)
• $35 billion addiction treatment “industry” in the U.S. alone

• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is at epidemic levels among military personnel and first responders

Simply, psychedelic drugs show great promise to become the new standard of care in several, major (multi-billion dollar) treatment markets.

Wall Street’s hounds have sniffed-out the profit potential here.

Opportunities for small investors

What do Silicon Valley and Wall Street know about psychedelic drugs that you don’t?

Not much. But the entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley and the ‘capitalists’ of Wall Street are not afraid to take the lead in jumping on new opportunities.

For investors, the psychedelics landscape is becoming increasingly clear.

Several major medical treatment markets are wide open for new treatment options due to acute need and the lack of effective existing treatments.

Psychedelic drugs, which have now advanced all the way to Phase II and Phase III clinical trials, show every indication of supplying these badly-needed treatments.

The billionaires of Silicon Valley and Wall Street didn’t get rich by waiting for new markets to mature and become fully established before moving in. They made their fortunes by identifying opportunity and getting in early.

Sometimes these opportunities can be difficult to spot. But sometimes they are staring us in the face.