BOSTON – Newleos Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders, announced the appointment of Timothy Noyes as President and Chief Executive Officer. He succeeds Founding President and CEO David Donabedian, Ph.D., who will continue to serve the company in an advisory capacity.
“I am thrilled to join Newleos as President and CEO. The company is at a pivotal inflection point, translating strong science into clinical momentum across programs that could redefine how anxiety and related disorders are treated,” said Noyes. “I look forward to working with this talented team to continue building a leading neuropsychiatric company and advancing our mission of delivering next-generation therapies for patients who have long been underserved.”
Noyes brings more than three decades of biopharmaceutical leadership experience and a proven record of guiding companies through critical stages of growth and innovation. As CEO, he will lead efforts to advance Newleos’ pipeline of first-in-class and best-in-class product candidates targeting generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and substance use disorders.
Before joining Newleos, Noyes served as Chief Executive Officer of Aerovate Therapeutics, where he guided the company through its IPO and advanced its lead clinical program for pulmonary arterial hypertension through a global Phase 2/3 trial. He previously served as CEO of Proteon Therapeutics, where he led the team through an IPO and advanced a novel biologic for blood vessel remodeling from preclinical studies through Phase 3 trials. Earlier in his career, he held senior leadership roles at GelTex Pharmaceuticals, leading the commercial launch of Renagel for end-stage renal disease patients. Following GelTex’s acquisition by Genzyme, he became President of Genzyme’s Renal Division and President of GelTex. Noyes began his career at Merck in commercial leadership roles within its hypertension, heart failure, and managed care divisions. He holds an A.B. from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
“When we founded Newleos, our mission was to build a leading company dedicated to transforming care for patients with serious psychiatric disorders,” said Christoph Westphal, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Chair of Newleos and Founding Partner of Longwood Fund. “Tim brings an exceptional track record of company building, fundraising, and advancing innovative therapies through development and commercialization. I have the utmost confidence in his ability to lead Newleos into its next stage of growth.”
Dr. Westphal also recognized outgoing CEO David Donabedian’s contributions, noting his pivotal role in securing high-quality clinical assets from Roche, negotiating key license agreements, and building a strong leadership and advisory team. Under Donabedian’s leadership, Newleos completed an oversubscribed $93.5 million Series A financing led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives with participation from Novo Holdings A/S, Longwood Fund, DCVC Bio, and Arkin Bio Capital. The company also initiated two clinical studies for its first-in-class GABAA-γ1 selective positive allosteric modulator NTX-1955 and received FDA IND clearance for NTX-1472, a brain-penetrant V1a receptor antagonist.
