Occam Global Fills Senior Post for Variant Bio
January 26, 2026 – New York City-based executive search firm Occam Global has recruited Craig T. Basson as chief medical officer and president of R&D of Variant Bio, a genomics-driven AI drug discovery company in Seattle, WA. “Craig’s career uniquely spans deep human genetics, rigorous clinical science, and successful drug development at scale,” said Andrew Farnum, chief executive officer of Variant Bio. “His leadership and experience translating genetic insights into medicines will be instrumental as we move our programs into the clinic.”
Dr. Basson brings more than 25 years of leadership experience across academic medicine, global pharmaceutical development, and biotechnology, with deep expertise in cardiovascular and metabolic disease, human genetics, and translational science. He most recently served as chief medical officer at Bitterroot Bio, a cardio-immunology company, where he built the clinical development strategy from inception and rapidly advanced the lead program through Phase 1 and into Phase 2 clinical testing. Prior to that, he was co-chief medical officer of Boston Pharmaceuticals, helping scale the company from an early-stage organization into a multi-program clinical biotech, overseeing development across general medicine and oncology, working closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and ultimately serving as interim CEO.
Prior to Bitterroot Bio, Dr. Basson spent a decade at Novartis, joining in 2010 as global head of cardiovascular translational medicine and later leading the combined cardiovascular and metabolism early development organization. His teams supported more than ten successful proof-of-concept studies and advanced multiple therapies through development, including Entresto, Leqvio, Ilaris, and pelacarsen. He also contributed to major outcomes programs, including the landmark CANTOS trial.
“Variant Bio’s ability to uncover actionable insights from large-scale human genomics represents a powerful opportunity to improve how medicines are discovered and developed,” said Dr. Basson. “I’m excited to help translate this science into meaningful benefits for patients.”
Variant Bio is developing life-saving therapies by studying the genes of people with exceptional health-related traits. By identifying communities with unique genetic architectures and outlier phenotypes, Variant Bio has identified novel human genetic evidence that is the basis for programs with breakthrough potential across multiple therapeutic areas.
Founded in 2012 by William Holodnak, Occam Global is an international executive recruiting and leadership advisory firm specializing in building management teams for companies in the life sciences, AI, robotics, defense, technology, and venture capital sectors. The firm’s success is rooted in cultivating and valuing relationships, establishing trust with entrepreneurs, executives, and investors. The firm employs a disciplined and comprehensive method for the sourcing, selection, and integration of executive leaders, involving in-depth research and rigorous due diligence. In addition, Occam Global provides sophisticated advice on organizational structure and development at the C-suite and board levels.
Related: Occam Global Places Leader of Gene Therapy Company Ensoma
Mr. Holodnak established his reputation by starting, building, and running an international search firm servicing leading companies and entrepreneurial organizations in the asset management, financial services, global health and biotechnology sectors throughout Asia, North America, and Europe. Prior to founding Occam, Mr. Holodnak created J. Robert Scott, a multinational executive search firm under the umbrella of Fidelity Investments. He specializes in recruiting C-level executives and board of director searches for the financial services and healthcare sectors, with clients including MIT, Ameriprise, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, AstraZeneca, Venrock, New Enterprise Associates, and SingHealth.
John Holodnak is Occam Global’s president. He specializes in healthcare executive recruiting and technology executive recruiting, calling on nearly a decade of experience in C-level executive search and his extensive experience in the financial services sector. Mr. Holodnak previously worked as an equity analyst at Crédit Agricole, a fixed-income analyst at Western Asset Management, and a currency trader on Wall Street.
Prolynx Search
Occam Global also recently recruited Chris Boulton as the new CEO of Prolynx. “We engineered this platform to enable medicines that were previously impossible to make,” said Daniel Santi, co-founder of Prolynx. “Having established the viability and versatility of our technology in earlier clinical applications, we have now optimized it to specifically address the complex requirements of metabolic peptide therapeutics. I am delighted to welcome Chris, whose leadership allows us to focus our full resources on rapidly advancing these novel molecules to patients.”
Mr. Boulton brings more than 25 years of global pharmaceutical leadership experience, with a specialized focus on the commercialization of metabolic and obesity therapies. Most recently, he served as vice president and global marketing therapy area head for obesity at Amgen.
Prolynx is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing ultra-long-acting medicines for obesity and other metabolic diseases. Backed by 5AM Ventures, OrbiMed, and Monograph Capital, Prolynx is based in Emeryville, CA.
Related: Occam Global Recruits Chief Business Officer for A-Alpha Bio
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
