Chris Garabedian BS

Chris Garabedian is a biopharma executive with over 25 years of industry experience and a proven track record of success, including leadership roles at two of the most successful biopharma companies of the last 20 years, Celgene and Gilead. As CEO of Sarepta Therapeutics, Mr. Garabedian orchestrated a turnaround of a 30-year old struggling company into a highly valued leader in genetic-based technology and rare disease drug development. He is currently Chairman of Xontogeny LLC, a biotechnology incubator where he serves as cofounder, investor and advisor to several early-stage life sciences companies.

As CEO of Sarepta from 2011 to 2015, Mr. Garabedian advanced the company R&D from one drug in early clinical development to six drugs in mid- to late-stage development, including a lead program in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) that led to FDA approval under the Accelerated Approval pathway in September 2016. Mr. Garabedian was nominated for Best CEO of the Year (The Street, 2012) and was named one of the top 50 Orphan Drug Thought Leaders (WODC, 2014). He was featured in the acclaimed book, The Right To Try (Darcy Olsen, 2016), where his interactions with the DMD patient community and his industry perspective on early access to drugs were detailed.

Prior to his CEO role at Sarepta, Mr. Garabedian served as Vice President of Corporate Strategy for Celgene from 2007 to 2010 where he was responsible for strategic planning, M&A, portfolio review and other strategic initiatives. Prior to Celgene, Mr. Garabedian worked at Gilead Sciences from 1997 to 2005 where he served in a number of global leadership roles, including as Vice President of Corporate Development, Vice President of Marketing, and Vice President of Medical Affairs. He developed expertise in managing corporate development initiatives including portfolio review and strategic planning, M&A/business development, and leading four global product launches.