CASE STUDIES

We regularly place leaders in roles such as Chief Technology Officer, Chief Medical Officer, Chief Commericial Officer, CEO, and Board Member.  Our case studies detail these complex placements at companies like Recursion, insitro, and Charm Therapeutics.

For AI roles, we focus heavily on evaluating algorithmic expertise, platform building experience, and the ability to translate technical output into drug pipelines. For traditional R&D leaders, we prioritize clinical development track records, regulatory experience, and operational excellence. Our dual-industry network ensures success in both areas.

Our success stories are geographically diverse, reflecting our global presence. We have proven success in placing executives across major innovation hubs, including the US (SF Bay Area, NYC, Boston), and Europe (London, Paris) ensuring we find the best talent for our clients whereever they are based.

We measure success by long-term retention and company growth. Our rigorous focus on cultural and strategic fit means our retention rate for placed executives is consistently over 95% after the initial two-year mark.

Our specialization allows us to accelerate the process significantly. While search complexity varies, our deep network and focus on high-priority roles often result in a successful placement within 90 days of engagement.

insitro needed senior leaders who could connect machine learning with drug discovery and take day-to-day technical work off founder and CEO Daphne Koller so she could focus on company strategy. Occam Global placed Philip Tagari as Chief Scientific Officer, Martha Rook as Chief Technical Operations Officer, Jevan Soo Lenox as Chief People Officer and Theo Karaletsos as VP of Data Science/Machine Learning. Koller said Occam's partnership "helped us close critical and hard-to-fill roles across scientific and corporate functions."

Recursion needed executives who combined biotech, AI and data science expertise, and who could handle strategic partnerships and fundraising during rapid growth and IPO preparation. Occam Global placed Recursion's COO, Chief Medical Officer, Chief Communications Officer and VP of Regulatory Affairs, plus three members of its Board of Directors: Terry-Ann Burrell, Namandjé Bumpus and Elaine Sun. Founder and CEO Chris Gibson called Occam "a formidable recruiting partner for Recursion."

Chemify needed operational and commercial leaders to turn founder Lee Cronin's digital chemistry platform into a commercial enterprise, and its Glasgow location made recruiting more competitive. Occam Global placed Michael Bell as CTO, Daniel Delubac as COO & CTO, Swati Chatterjee as SVP of Sales & Business Development and Zachary Karl as VP of Business Development. Chemify went on to close a significant Series A round.

When Anagenex first engaged Occam, it had no formal organizational structure or funding. Occam recruited its CTO and CSO and helped first-time CEO Nicolas Tilmans shape the company's board and organization. At CHARM Therapeutics, Occam placed serial biotech entrepreneur Gary Glick as Executive Chairman to mentor the first-time founder CEO, and the company went on to secure a $50M Series A.

Occam Global's case studies cover a range of challenges. At Recursion, it strengthened the leadership team and board ahead of the company's IPO. At insitro, it assembled a team that bridges machine learning and drug discovery. At CHARM Therapeutics and Anagenex, it supported first-time CEOs. At Chemify, it found operational leaders to commercialize a digital chemistry platform. Most were niche C-suite and board searches that called for domain expertise and experience in fast-growing markets.

Yes. For many clients, Occam Global pairs executive search with strategic advice. During Recursion's rapid growth, that included advice on leadership, organization and IPO preparation alongside its placements. At Anagenex, Occam advised on organizational strategy and board construction while recruiting the company's CTO and CSO.

Most Occam Global searches take three to five months and follow a structured five-phase process: initiation (Day 1), defining scope, objectives and deliverables; planning (around Day 3), building the search plan and candidate profiles; execution (Days 14–90), running repeated outreach and assessment cycles until finalists emerge; pre-closure (Days 90–120), prioritizing finalists and checking references; and closure (Day 120 onward), negotiating and securing a signed offer letter.

Companies choose Occam Global when a search calls for specialized knowledge of life sciences, technology or venture-backed businesses. A generalist firm can assess leadership experience; Occam can also judge whether a candidate has the scientific and technical depth the role demands. That's why companies like Recursion, insitro and Chemify have trusted Occam with their most critical leadership hires.

Occam Global's case studies feature Recursion, insitro, CHARM Therapeutics, Chemify and Anagenex. These companies span biotechnology, TechBio, AI-driven drug discovery and digital chemistry, and range from early-stage startups to a company preparing for its IPO.

We are specialists in recruiting executives and board members for the life sciences industry, including biotech, pharma, and medical devices. We also serve a select group of high-growth technology clients and venture capital firms, uniquely positioning us for AI-driven organizations including techbio and deep tech executive search.