Sarepta Therapeutics Appoints Gilmore O’Neill, M.B., M.M.Sc. as Chief Medical Officer

-- Dr. O’Neill joins Sarepta from Biogen, where he served as senior vice president of late-stage clinical development, including Spinraza® for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA); brings deep clinical experience in neurology, rare disease and gene therapy --


CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of precision genetic medicine to treat rare neuromuscular diseases, today announced the appointment of Gilmore O’Neill, M.B., M.M.Sc. as its chief medical officer. Dr. O’Neill will lead all clinical development, medical affairs, pharmacovigilance, and regulatory affairs.

Dr. O’Neill joins Sarepta from Biogen, where he held leadership roles of increasing responsibility over a 15-year period in research and development, most recently as senior vice president responsible for all late-stage clinical development. During his tenure, Dr. O’Neill oversaw development programs for Alzheimer’s disease, movement disorders, acute neurology, multiple sclerosis, pain, neuromuscular disease, gene and cell therapy, and rare diseases. He played a leadership role in seeking, receiving and maintaining global marketing approvals for Tecfidera®, Zinbryta®, Plegridy® and Spinraza®.

“I feel extremely fortunate to welcome Dr. O’Neill to Sarepta and to our executive team as we advance our 21 pipeline programs and build ourselves into one of the most meaningful precision genetic medicine companies in the world,” said Doug Ingram, Sarepta’s president and chief executive officer. “Gilmore is uniquely positioned to successfully lead our development strategy. He has deep expertise in neurobiology, genetic medicine and clinical development, having driven some of biotech’s most successful clinical programs. And his proven leadership ability and passion for our mission of changing lives through genetic medicine will be essential as we advance toward our goals with a sense of urgency, creativity and purpose.”

“I was inspired to join the Sarepta leadership team by the quality of Sarepta’s pipeline and the sense of urgency within the Company to advance these programs and improve the lives of patients,” said Dr. O’Neill. “I’m looking forward to making a fast start, and one of my most pressing priorities will be to meet with and learn from the DMD patient community.”

Dr. O’Neill received a Bachelor of Medicine degree from University College Dublin and a Master of Medical Sciences degree from Harvard University. He is the recipient of numerous awards in science and medicine, including the Lefler Fellowship in the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. O’Neill is the author of numerous publications on multiple sclerosis, has served as a neurology peer reviewer for medical literature, and lectures in the United States and globally on advances in neurology and neurological research.

Dr. O’Neill is licensed to practice medicine in the state of Massachusetts. He is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and a board-certified neurologist (ABPN). He is formerly Chief Resident in Neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and served, until recently, as a Clinical Instructor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School. He has maintained his clinical appointment at the MGH with a sub-specialty interest in neuromuscular diseases and inherited leukodystrophies.

About Sarepta Therapeutics

Sarepta Therapeutics is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of precision genetic medicine to treat rare neuromuscular diseases. The Company is primarily focused on rapidly advancing the development of its potentially disease-modifying Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) drug candidates. For more information, please visit www.sarepta.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," "intends," "potential," "possible" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding Sarepta building itself into one of the most meaningful precision genetic medicine companies in the world; Sarepta’s expectations regarding the potential benefits the Company may inure from the appointment of Dr. O’Neill, including him being uniquely positioned to successfully lead Sarepta’s development strategy; and Dr. O’Neill’s proven leadership ability and passion for Sarepta’s mission of changing lives through genetic medicine being essential as Sarepta advances toward its goals with a sense of urgency, creativity and purpose.

These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Sarepta’s control. Actual results could materially differ from those stated or implied by these forward-looking statements as a result of such risks and uncertainties. Known risk factors include, among others: Sarepta’s pipeline programs may not result in any viable treatments suitable for clinical research or commercialization due to a variety of reasons, including the results of future research may not be consistent with past positive results or may fail to meet regulatory approval requirements for the safety and efficacy of product candidates or may never become commercialized products due to other various reasons including possible limitations of Company financial and other resources, manufacturing limitations that may not be anticipated or resolved for in a timely manner, and regulatory, court or agency decisions, such as decisions by the United States Patent and Trademark Office with respect to patents that cover our product candidates; and even if Sarepta’s programs result in new commercialized products, Sarepta may not achieve any significant revenues from the sale of such products; and those risks identified under the heading “Risk Factors” in Sarepta’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as well as other SEC filings made by the Company which you are encouraged to review.

Any of the foregoing risks could materially and adversely affect the Company’s business, results of operations and the trading price of Sarepta’s common stock. For a detailed description of risks and uncertainties Sarepta faces, you are encouraged to review Sarepta's 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K and most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC as well as other SEC filings made by Sarepta. We caution investors not to place considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Sarepta does not undertake any obligation to publicly update its forward-looking statements based on events or circumstances after the date hereof.

Internet Posting of Information

We routinely post information that may be important to investors in the 'For Investors' section of our website at www.sarepta.com. We encourage investors and potential investors to consult our website regularly for important information about us.

Source: Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc.

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iestepan@sarepta.com
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