When AbbVie moved to acquire Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals in a deal valued at more than $1 billion, it sent shockwaves through the biotech community. For years, psychedelic-inspired drug development has been viewed as a fringe pursuit, scientifically intriguing, but clinically and commercially fraught. AbbVie’s decision to pay up for access to Gilgamesh’s pipeline marked a clear shift: big pharma is officially buying into the promise of neuroplastogens, molecules that repair and rewire brain circuits disrupted in psychiatric disease.
