Eli Lilly agrees to $3.8B psychedelic buy

• This deal would be the largest psychedelic deal yet, and it follows AbbVie's acquisition of Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals' lead drug candidate for up to $1.2 billion last August.

Zoom in: Eli Lilly will pay $2.8 billion in cash up front — a 26% premium to AtaiBeckley's Wednesday closing price — with another $1 billion contingent on certain milestones.

• Initial Phase 3 trial results of AtaiBeckley's lead drug, a nasal spray known as BPL-003, are expected to come in 2029.

The big picture: This all comes as the Trump administration is fast-tracking psychedelic or MDMA-like therapy research.