After leaving Tessera Therapeutics earlier this month, Michael Severino will take over Sarepta Therapeutics as the biotech awaits two key regulatory decisions in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Sarepta Therapeutics has chosen Michael Severino, former CEO of Tessera Therapeutics and AbbVie R&D chief, to replace outgoing CEO Doug Ingram.
Severino’s new role is effective Tuesday. He will take the reins from Ingram, who announced his retirement earlier this year after nearly a decade at Sarepta’s helm. In an “ironic twist of fate,” Ingram revealed that two of his family members had been diagnosed with myotonic dystrophy (DM-1), a disease for which Sarepta has partnered with Arrowhead Therapeutics to develop a treatment.
With Ingram retiring, Sarepta launched a search for a new CEO. The board said Monday that multiple potential leaders were discovered in the course of that search but Severino stood out as the best fit.
“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,” M. Kathleen Behrens, board chair, said in a prepared statement.
Sarepta shares rose 5.5% as the markets opened Monday to $16.56.
Severino’s departure from Tessera was announced last week. He had led the genetic medicine biotech since 2022 and also served as a CEO-partner with Flagship Pioneering, which founded the company. Prior to those roles, he served as vice chair and president at AbbVie, leading the pharma’s R&D and corporate strategy. Severino oversaw the company’s expansion into genetics and genomics, computational biology and precision medicine. His credits include work on AbbVie blockbusters Rinvoq, Skyrizi and Venclexta, plus franchises in hematologic oncology, immunology and neuroscience.
“I am particularly pleased that Mike inherits a company with a great team, a portfolio of life-changing therapies, a pipeline with exceptional potential and the financial resources to advance that science independently and at scale,” Ingram said in a statement. “Together, we have already brought a better future to thousands of patients and I am confident that under Mike’s leadership, Sarepta will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible and deliver an even greater impact for the people we serve.”
Ingram will remain with the company in an advisory capacity through the end of the year.
The transition comes at a pivotal time for Sarepta, with applications for two Duchenne muscular dystrophy drugs before the FDA after failing their confirmatory trials. The company received accelerated approval for the exon skippers Amondys 45 and Vyondys 53 in 2021 and 2019, respectively, but was required to run confirmatory trials for both to secure full marketing approval. Those studies failed in November 2025, putting the approvals into jeopardy.
But Sarepta continued on, filing the applications with supplemental data including real-world evidence and information backing the safety of the therapies. Analysts are convinced the drugs have a shot at securing full approval, as the FDA carefully weighs the safety data for drugs that address a devastating, fatal disease.
The FDA is expected to render a decision on both applications on or before February 28, 2027.
“Sarepta’s unwavering commitment to patients and science resonates deeply with me, and I was very encouraged by the long-term data supporting our approved products, and the preclinical and clinical data from the siRNA pipeline programs and the potential for best-in-class treatments,” Severino said in a statement Monday. “I look forward to working with my new colleagues at Sarepta to continue to serve the Duchenne community and expand our reach.”
Sarepta will report second quarter earnings on Aug. 5, during which analysts will be looking to see a rebound in sales for Elevidys. The Duchenne gene therapy was linked to two deaths last year, while another fatality occurred after treatment with a different gene therapy that shares the same mechanism of action. The company later abandoned gene therapy to refocus on its siRNA work with Arrowhead.
