Jan Thirkettle - CEO Harness Therapeutics at BIO Boston 2025

From BIO Boston: Jan Thirkettle, CEO of Harness Therapeutics

In this episode, I sit down with Jan Thirkettle, a biotech leader with deep experience across gene therapy, platform innovation, and company-building.

Jan was part of the team that helped bring one of the first ex vivo gene therapies to market. Today, he’s leading Harness Therapeutics — a UK-based company developing a novel class of RNA therapeutics (MISBA tech) to upregulate protein expression with unprecedented precision.

We talk about:— Why Harness is targeting neurodegeneration and CNS— The company’s unique approach to hitting “unprosecuted” targets— Building a biotech from scratch — and doing it in the UK— What he's learned about culture, resilience, and scaling teams

This is a sharp, grounded chat with a leader who’s genuinely passionate about building great science and great teams.

More in-person interviews from BIO Boston to follow.