Why pharmaceutical giants are pouring fortunes into little-known toad poison

How toad venom became the hottest drug in pharmaceutical development

An obscure psychedelic is drawing intense interest from the pharmaceutical industry. WSJ explores why companies are betting hundreds of millions of dollars on the therapeutic potential of a toad poison.

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— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) July 25, 2026

Biotech companies including Atai Life Sciences, Beckley Psytech and GH Research are racing to develop pharmaceutical versions of 5-MeO-DMT — one of the world’s most powerful psychedelics — as a potential treatment for depression, anxiety and PTSD, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Currently administered at unregulated centres in Mexico, the compound nicknamed BUFO is attracting heavy investment from firms competing to secure regulatory approval and intellectual property rights in what could become a multibillion-dollar psychiatric treatment industry.

Experts caution that safety, regulation and commercial scalability remain under active clinical evaluation before wider medical deployment becomes possible.

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