Brian Varnum, Ph.D.

Dr. Varnum has served as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the board of directors of Armata Pharmaceuticals since August 2021. Prior to that, he served as President and Chief Development Officer since 2019. He previously served at C3J as its Vice President of Product Development starting in 2012 and became its Chief Development Officer in 2014, serving in that role until the merger with AmpliPhi Biosciences in May 2019. Dr. Varnum is a biotech veteran with more than 20 years of experience. Dr. Varnum began his career with Amgen Inc. and spent more than 18 years at the biotech pioneer as that company grew from a start-up to a large and successful biotechnology company. He started in discovery research where his team purified novel growth factors and advanced antibodies and small molecules into clinical studies. Dr. Varnum also worked in development, assisting with clinical development of proteins, antibodies and small molecules. In this capacity, he contributed to key regulatory filings, market research and product launch, giving him experience in drug discovery and development from the lab bench to product launch and marketing. After retiring from Amgen Inc. in 2007, Dr. Varnum turned his focus to the start-up landscape, working in several capacities, including assisting investors, entrepreneurs and start-ups in the assessment of technologies for funding or in-licensing. In these capacities, he established research strategies and plans, and served as Chief Scientific Officer for several companies, securing funding, and executing research contracts with large and mid-sized pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Varnum obtained his Ph.D. from UCLA studying oncogenes, and his drug development research experience includes hematopoietic growth factor discovery, oncology, auto-immune/​inflammatory disorders, personalized medicine in inflammatory bowel disease and infectious diseases.