AtaiBeckley Inc. (ATAI) announced additional Phase 2a results for EMP-01, its oral R-MDMA candidate, showing clinically meaningful and consistent improvements in adults with social anxiety disorder (SAD). The findings were presented from a randomized study of 70 patients and reinforce earlier topline data reported in February 2026.
Social anxiety disorder is one of the most common psychiatric conditions worldwide, often leading to persistent fear, avoidance of social situations, and significant impairment in daily life. Current treatments, such as SSRIs and SNRIs, require chronic daily dosing and many patients fail to achieve adequate response.
In the trial, EMP-01 delivered a placebo-adjusted reduction of-11.9 points on Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), alongside large improvements on patient-reported measures. At Day 43, patients treated with EMP-01 achieved a 38% reduction on the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) compared to 15% on placebo, and a 32% reduction on the Subtle Avoidance Frequency Examination (SAFE) compared to 14% on placebo.
Importantly, 49% of patients were rated as responders by both clinicians (CGI-I) and themselves (PGI-C), versus 15% and 12% on placebo, respectively.
EMP-01 was well tolerated, with no severe or serious adverse events reported. The two-dose regimen, given 28 days apart without psychotherapy, showed durability of effect through Day 43, suggesting a differentiated treatment option compared to current chronic therapies.
Dr Srinivas Rao, Co-Founder and CEO of AtaiBeckley, said the consistency of improvements across clinician-related symptoms, patient-reported experience, and real- word avoidance behavior highlights EMP-01's potential to address multiple dimensions of social anxiety disorder.
The study enrolled 71 adults across seven clinical sites in the UK, with high retention and acceptability. AtaiBeckley continues to advance, EMP-01 as part of its pipeline of rapid-acting, durable, and convenient mental health treatments, which also includes BPL-003 for treatment-resistant depression and VLS-01 for TRD.
ATAI has traded between $1.29 and $6.75 over the past year. The stock closed Wednesday's trading at $4.87, down 0.61%. In pre-market the stock is at4.94, up 1.44%.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.