Spica Therapeutics Appoints Jeff Abbey as Chief Executive Officer
New CEO brings over two decades of international life sciences leadership and a proven track record of biotech company building, corporate development, and successful capital formation
Appointment aligns with Spica’s strategy to deploy its Macrophage Fingerprinting Platform across high-value chronic disease indications
Brussels, Belgium – October 6, 2026 – Spica Therapeutics (“Spica”), a biotechnology company pioneering precision macrophage-targeted therapies, today announced the appointment of Jeff Abbey as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Mr. Abbey joins Spica with more than twenty years of executive management, strategic execution, and fundraising experience across both public and private biopharmaceutical markets. His appointment marks a pivotal inflection point as Spica accelerates its corporate strategy, expanding the deployment of its proprietary platform beyond oncology into broader, high-impact therapeutic areas, including fibroinflammatory conditions.
“We are thrilled to welcome Jeff to Spica at this defining moment in our corporate evolution,” said Jim Van heusden, Chairman of the Board. “Jeff has a stellar history of building international biotechnology companies and guiding them through complex clinical development paths. Spica’s approach to modulating macrophage biology is fundamentally disruptive. Jeff’s combination of operational expertise and fundraising success makes him uniquely suited to lead Spica as we scale our computational platform and advance our pipeline to resolve chronic disease.”
Mr. Abbey most recently served as CEO of RNatives, Inc., an RNA-based gene-regulating therapeutics company, where he has transitioned to Chairman of the Board. Prior to that, he was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Business Officer at ImmunOs Therapeutics, where he led operations and corporate development, raised a $74 million Series B financing, transitioned the lead program into clinical development, and secured a clinical collaboration with Merck. Earlier in his career, Mr. Abbey spent over eight years as CEO of Argos Therapeutics, leading the company’s evolution from an early-stage venture into a publicly listed NASDAQ company, completing a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial, and securing over $250 million in equity financings.
“I am excited to join Spica at such a pivotal moment in its development,” said Jeff Abbey, newly appointed CEO of Spica. “While the industry has historically struggled with broad, non-specific myeloid treatments that cause systemic toxicities, Spica has unlocked true cellular precision. Our proprietary Macrophage Fingerprinting Platform allows us to identify the right target, in the right patient population, for the right indication—delivering the right treatment to reverse chronic disease. I look forward to working closely with our exceptional scientific team, board, and investors to unlock the immense therapeutic and commercial value of this platform.”
“Spica has made impressive progress from its early venture creation roots into a company with a clear path towards clinical development,” said Debbie Dumont, co-founder and Managing Partner at Bioqube Ventures and Spica Board Member. “With Jeff at the helm, the company gains a proven, international leader capable of converting our unique insights into macrophage biology into a robust pipeline of high-value clinical assets that redefine therapeutic paradigms.”
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About Spica Therapeutics
Spica Therapeutics is a biotechnology company dedicated to transforming outcomes in chronic disease through precise targeting of pathogenic macrophage biology. The company uses its proprietary Macrophage Fingerprinting Platform to identify and therapeutically target disease-driving macrophage subsets. Through modulation of these pathogenic populations, Spica restores healthy macrophage function to halt and reverse chronic disease. Spica was founded on pioneering research from Aarhus University and Southern Denmark University and is backed by a syndicate of leading life science investors, including Bioqube Ventures, Flanders Future Tech Fund (managed by PMV), and Qbic. For more information, visit www.spicatx.com.
Media and Corporate Contacts:
Spica Therapeutics BV
Jeff Abbey, CEO
Email: info@spicatx.com
Website: www.spicatx.com