Sarepta Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical company and leader in precision genetic medicine for rare diseases, has appointed Michael Severino, M.D., as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 28, 2026. Severino, who joins Sarepta’s Board of Directors as part of the appointment, succeeds Doug Ingram, who is retiring and will remain with the company in an advisory capacity through the end of 2026 to support a smooth transition.
About Michael Severino, M.D.
Severino steps into the CEO role at a company holding a leadership position in Duchenne muscular dystrophy and building out a broader pipeline across muscle, central nervous system, and cardiac disease. Sarepta Board Chairperson M. Kathleen Behrens, Ph.D., said the board’s comprehensive search identified multiple strong candidates before settling on Severino, citing his combination of scientific depth, development expertise, and a track record of building industry-leading franchises across multiple therapeutic areas as reasons for confidence in his ability to steer the company’s next chapter.
Severino joins Sarepta from Tessera Therapeutics, a gene-writing technology company he led as CEO since 2022 while also serving as a CEO-Partner at Flagship Pioneering. Before Tessera, he spent eight years at AbbVie, most recently as Vice Chairman and President, where he was responsible for research and development and the corporate strategy office and oversaw a rapid expansion of the company’s pipeline. He built new capabilities in genetics and genomics, computational biology, and precision medicine, and contributed to more than a dozen approved therapies, including Rinvoq, Skyrizi, and Venclexta, while building leading franchises in hematologic oncology, immunology, and neuroscience. Earlier in that tenure, he served as Executive Vice President, Research & Development and Chief Scientific Officer.
Prior to AbbVie, Severino spent nearly a decade at Amgen in roles of increasing responsibility, culminating in his appointment as Senior Vice President, Global Development and Chief Medical Officer, where he oversaw clinical development across oncology, inflammation, neuroscience, and cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. He began his industry career at Merck, where he led research in clinical genomics, molecular profiling, and experimental medicine. Beyond Sarepta, he serves on the boards of Avantor, Montai Health, Quotient Therapeutics, and Viatris, and previously chaired AbbVie’s Black Business Network Employee Resource Group. He graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Maryland, College Park, earned his M.D. from Johns Hopkins University, and completed his residency and fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Announcing the move, Severino said: “It is a privilege to join Sarepta, the leader in precision genetic medicine for rare diseases, and a company driven by an extraordinary purpose: bringing innovative therapies, hope and possibility to patients and families facing serious and life-threatening diseases. Throughout my career, I have focused on combining cutting-edge science with drug development and commercialization expertise to improve the lives of patients, and I look forward to working with my new colleagues at Sarepta to continue to serve the Duchenne community and expand our reach.”
About Sarepta Therapeutics
Sarepta Therapeutics is on a mission to engineer precision genetic medicine for rare diseases that devastate lives and cut futures short. The company holds a leadership position in Duchenne muscular dystrophy and is building a robust portfolio of programs spanning muscle, central nervous system, and cardiac diseases. Its approved therapies include exon-skipping treatments for Duchenne as well as the first one-time gene therapy for the disease, milestones achieved under outgoing CEO Doug Ingram’s leadership. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker SRPT, Sarepta continues to advance a pipeline that includes siRNA programs aimed at expanding treatment options for the patients and families it serves.
