Occam Global Recruits Chief Business Officer for A-Alpha Bio
October 31, 2025 – New York City-based executive search firm Occam Global has 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.
Prior to his time at Abbratech, Dr. Lionberger spent nearly a decade at Berkeley Lights (later rebranded PhenomeX), holding roles across R&D and business development. He led commercial efforts that resulted in more than $200 million in signed deals, including partnerships with Ginkgo Bioworks, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Bayer Crop Science. His cross-functional expertise also helped guide the company through its IPO and eventual acquisition by Bruker Corporation. With academic roots in molecular biology, biophysics, and mechanical engineering, Dr. Lionberger has authored multiple patents and launched disruptive technologies now widely adopted in therapeutic antibody discovery and development.
As CBO, Dr. Lionberger will lead A-Alpha Bio’s business development and alliance management functions, working closely with the executive team to expand the company’s partnerships across biopharma and adjacent sectors. He will also help guide the company’s corporate strategy as it continues scaling its AI-enabled platform capabilities.
“A-Alpha Bio is uniquely positioned at the intersection of experimental biology and machine learning,” said Dr. Lionberger. “It’s platform technologies generate the kind of deep, multimodal datasets that are powering a new era of rational drug discovery. I’m excited to help scale A-Alpha Bio’s impact by offering the broad scientific community access to a transformative technology platform—one that enables next-generation therapeutics that are simply not attainable using conventional approaches.”
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A-Alpha Bio is a biotechnology company harnessing synthetic biology and machine learning to measure, predict, and engineer protein-protein interactions. A-Alpha Bio is based in Seattle and was founded in 2017 at the University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design and Center for Synthetic Biology.
Proven Search Consultants
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.
Powering Growth Through Precision Dealmaking
In an era defined by rapid consolidation and strategic reinvention, precision dealmaking has emerged as the driving force behind growth in the executive search industry. As firms navigate shifting market dynamics, many are turning to mergers, acquisitions, and private equity partnerships to expand capabilities, unlock liquidity, and gain competitive advantage. The most forward-thinking leaders are recognizing that sustainable success depends not only on securing capital but on forging relationships that align vision with value creation — partnerships that balance strategic intent with disciplined execution to accelerate growth and build lasting enterprise value.
On November 13, 2025, Hunt Scanlon Ventures is convening top executive search firm leaders, private equity investors, and M&A advisors at The Harvard Club of New York to explore the latest trends shaping dealmaking in the industry. As M&A activity continues to evolve, executive search firms are leveraging acquisitions, capital raises, and private equity partnerships to drive growth and stay competitive in a rapidly shifting market.
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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.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
