A Sage competitor on postpartum depression

Christian Angermayer, the financier seeking to develop a new wave of psychedelic medicines, is entering the postpartum depression space. His company, ATAI Life Sciences, has become a majority shareholder in a startup called GABA Therapeutics, whose lead compound — GRX-917 — is aimed at treating anxiety and depression, particularly in new mothers. 

The company plans to compete with SAGE Therapeutics, whose drug Zulresso was approved to treat postpartum depression. Both GABA and SAGE’s drugs act on a naturally produced steroid called allopregnanolone.