Occam Global Recruits CEO for Prolynx

December 16, 2025 – New York City-based executive search firm Occam Global has 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. Prior to Amgen, Mr. Boulton spent nearly a decade at Sanofi, where he served as general manager of the U.S. Diabetes business, managing a $1 billion portfolio and a team of 400. His background also includes significant tenure at AstraZeneca, where he served as head of the cardiovascular/metabolic business unit (U.K.) and led the first global launch of the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin (Forxiga). Mr. Boulton holds extensive expertise in global product launches, P&L management, and strategic business transformation across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Prolynx is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing ultra-long-acting medicines for obesity and other metabolic diseases. The company is advancing a proprietary portfolio of extended-duration therapeutic candidates, targeting once monthly and
once-quarterly dosing, optimized to smooth the peaks and troughs that can contribute to tolerability issues, and to support more consistent, long-term treatment. Backed by 5AM Ventures, OrbiMed, and Monograph Capital, Prolynx is based in Emeryville, CA.

“Current GLP1-based therapies have revolutionized obesity treatment, yet they still require weekly administration, and patients often experience significant tolerability issues due to suboptimal pharmacokinetics,” said Mr. Boulton. “By leveraging insights from our foundational platform, we are developing a portfolio of once-monthly and once-quarterly medicines designed to improve adherence, tolerability, and outcomes for patients. I look forward to working with Dan Santi, the team, and our high-quality investor syndicate to bring these highly differentiated assets to
the clinic.”

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.

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.

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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.

A-Alpha Bio Search

Occam Global recently assisted in the recruitment of Troy Lionberger as chief business officer of biotechnology company A-Alpha Bio. “Troy brings a rare blend of deep technical fluency and commercial creativity,” said David Younger, co-founder and CEO of A-Alpha Bio. “His track record speaks for itself—from inventing platform applications to closing transformative partnerships. We’ve repeatedly seen the tremendous value our platform technologies deliver when leveraged by industry leaders. That recognition made it clear we have a unique opportunity to pursue high-impact partnerships not only in drug discovery, but across other exciting markets as well. Troy’s background will be instrumental in helping us drive strategic growth as we scale into a broad industry enabler.”

A proven platform strategist and dealmaker, Dr. Lionberger brings over a decade of experience delivering high-value partnerships across diverse markets, including pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and industrial biotechnology.

Before joining A-Alpha Bio, Dr. Lionberger served as CBO at Abbratech, where he spearheaded the company’s shift from stealth-mode antibody discovery platform to a partner-facing biotech and secured its first deal with a global pharmaceutical company.

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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media