Merdad Parsey is an accomplished biopharmaceutical executive and physician-scientist with more than 25 years of experience spanning research, clinical development, regulatory approval, commercialization, portfolio strategy and company building across biotechnology, pharmaceutical companies, and academic medicine. Throughout his career, he has contributed to the development, approval and launch of numerous medicines across therapeutic areas and modalities.
Prior to joining Sofinnova in 2026, Merdad served as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Gilead Sciences, where he oversaw Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, Clinical Operations, Clinical Data Sciences, Clinical Pharmacology, Biomarkers, Portfolio Strategy and Management, Regulatory, Safety Sciences, and Quality and Compliance. He was responsible for clinical development from pre-IND through launch, portfolio strategy and budget, and served as a member of Gilead’s leadership team and Chair of its Portfolio Committee.
Before Gilead, Merdad held senior leadership positions at Genentech/Roche, including Senior Vice President of gRED Early Clinical Development, where he oversaw clinical development across therapeutic areas from pre-IND through Phase 2b. Earlier, he served as Chief Executive Officer of 3-V Biosciences, now Sagimet Biosciences
Merdad earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Maryland at Baltimore and his B.S. in Microbiology and Biochemistry from the University of Maryland at College Park. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Stanford University Hospital and a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado Medical Center.