Stevenson Search Partners Recruits CEO for Spica Therapeutics
November 13, 2026 – Fort Lee, NJ-based Stevenson Search Partners, a global life science executive search firm and a Hunt Scanlon Top 50 ranked search firm, has placed Jeff Abbey as the new CEO of Spica Therapeutics. “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.”
“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.”
Mr. Abbey joins Spica with more than twenty years of executive management, strategic execution, and fundraising experience across both public and private biopharmaceutical markets. The company noted that 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.
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 Therapeutics is a biotechnology company dedicated to transforming outcomes in chronic disease through precise targeting of pathogenic macrophage biology. The company 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.
Related: Stevenson Search Partners Receives Long-Term Investment from SixSibs Capital
Stevenson provides a collaborative, long-term approach to its clients with a global network and strategic talent mapping and pipelining, and competitive analysis services. The search firm boasts an entrepreneurial and diversity-driven culture, with expansive industry expertise and broad international reach. In 2020, Stevenson expanded its operations with the opening of an office in the U.K., which also serves the E.U. and other regions, as part of its strategic growth in the global life science and healthcare area.
Royalty Pharma Search
Earlier this year, Stevenson recruited Benjamin Olenchock as head of clinical sciences at Royalty Pharma. Dr. Olenchock joins Royalty Pharma’s research & investments team, bringing senior clinical and regulatory expertise to the firm’s investment process. “We’re pleased to share the appointment of Benjamin Olenchock, MD, PhD to head of clinical sciences at Royalty Pharma,” Stevenson Search Partners said in a LinkedIn post. “Ben brings senior clinical and regulatory expertise to the investment process at Royalty Pharma, the world’s largest buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties and a leading funder of innovation across the industry.”
Most recently, Dr. Olenchock served at Regeneron for nearly nine years, holding a series of progressively senior roles, from medical director through senior medical director and executive medical director, before serving as global program head.
Royalty Pharma is a New York-based biopharmaceutical financing company that focuses on acquiring and managing royalty interests in pharmaceutical products. Rather than developing or manufacturing drugs itself, the firm invests in therapies by purchasing the rights to future revenues generated from approved or late-stage medicines.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
