Sarepta Therapeutics has found the leader it hopes can engineer a desperately needed turnaround.
The company on Monday announced that Michael Severino, an executive with leadership experience at startups as well as large drugmakers, will become its next CEO effective July 28. He’ll replace longtime leader Doug Ingram, who in February announced plans to retire after a tumultuous run.
Severino has been working in the biopharmaceutical industry for more than two decades, including stops at AbbVie and Amgen. At AbbVie, Severino helped bring to market multiple drugs for psoriasis, arthritis, cancer and hepatitis C. At Amgen, he oversaw research and development as the company’s senior vice president of development and corporate chief medical officer.
In 2022, Severino left AbbVie to run Tessera Therapeutics, a buzzy “gene writing” startup backed by Flagship Pioneering. Tessera recently brought its first drug prospect, a gene editing treatment for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, into clinical testing. Last week, Tessera announced that Severino had joined a “commercial stage” biotech company and that former Merck & Co. executive Joseph Romanelli would serve as its next leader.
“Over a distinguished 25-year career in biopharmaceuticals, [Severino] has demonstrated a combination of scientific depth, development expertise, and proven execution that consistently delivers results,” said Sarepta board chair M. Kathleen Behrens, in a statement. “His industry experience, strategic vision and commitment to patients, coupled with having built industry-leading franchises across multiple therapeutic areas, give us great confidence as he works to build on Sarepta’s strengths and steer the company as it continues to advance promising science on behalf of patients.”
