Spica is pioneering Macrophage-Subset targeted therapies
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."
Spica Therapeutics is a pioneering biotech company dedicated to transforming macrophage biology into breakthrough therapies for patients across multiple therapeutic areas. Leveraging its proprietary functional macrophage fingerprinting technology, Spica identifies and selectively targets disease-relevant macrophage subsets to address unmet medical needs in oncology and fibroinflammatory diseases. Founded on groundbreaking research conducted at the University of Aarhus, University of Southern Denmark, and INSERM, Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy, Spica operates from its headquarters in Antwerp, Belgium, with a site in Aarhus, Denmark. Powered by Bioqube Ventures’ venture creation model, the company is advancing a robust pipeline of innovative therapies designed to modulate macrophages and improve patient outcomes.
