Co-Founder and CEO, Strand Therapeutics
Jake Becraft is co-founder and CEO of Strand Therapeutics, a company building programmable mRNA medicines. Unlike conventional mRNA, these therapeutics read the cellular environment, activating only inside diseased cells and staying inactive in healthy tissue. With co-founder Tasuku Kitada, PhD, Jake developed the world’s first synthetic biology programming language for mRNA, published in Nature Chemical Biology in 2018. Their work identified expression control, not delivery, as the primary bottleneck limiting genetic medicines. Jake holds a PhD from MIT and a bachelor’s degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has been named a 2021 MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35, a Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree, and an Endpoints News 20 Under 40 honoree. Jake has led Strand to raise $250 million, advanced its lead program, STX-001, through Phase 1 clinical trials with complete responses in late-stage cancer patients, and is advancing its second systemic program, STX-003, into the clinic this year. Beyond Strand, Jake has become one of biotech’s most visible voices on U.S. clinical trial policy, testifying before the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and writing in The Washington Post on expanding patient access to first-in-human trials. He also previously advised the Massachusetts State Legislature on science and technology policy. Under his leadership, Strand has also earned company-wide recognition, including Fierce Biotech’s Fierce 15 (2022) and a spot on Fast Company’s 2026 Most Innovative Companies list, ranking No. 7 in biotech.
Follow him on LinkedIn.