New CMO to advance Clinical Pipeline Development

Dr Gerard Short, MBBS has joined biotech VarmX, a company focusing on innovative approaches for the reversal of anticoagulation, as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). He will be responsible for overseeing the clinical development of the company’s pipeline, including progression of its lead product, VMX-C001, into clinical proof of concept and registrational studies.

With more than 20 years working with both big pharma and biotechs, Dr Short’s clinical development expertise has a particular focus on rare diseases and gene therapy for haematological disorders. He joins VarmX from Freeline Therapeutics, where he served for five years as SVP Clinical and Regulatory and later SVP Medical Science, establishing an in-house pharmacovigilance function and advancing gene therapy clinical programmes in haemophilia B and Fabry’s disease. During a decade at Genzyme, he led the Global Development Team treatment programmes targeting Pompe’s disease (phase 3) and acute leukaemia. He has also held roles at Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi-Synthelabo following eight years as a clinical practitioner.

Alexander Vos, CEO of VarmX, said: “We are delighted to welcome a person of Gerard’s calibre to our team. His proven knowledge in clinical, medical, and regulatory affairs, combined with his history of successfully advancing programs into the clinic, will be instrumental as VarmX enters a key transition phase to becoming a clinical stage company in 2021.”

Dr Short received his Bachelor of Medicine (MBBS) degree from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School (now part of Imperial College) and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from London Business School. In addition, he is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP UK) and a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine (FFPM).

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