Biopharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim has announced a strategic collaboration with Re-Vana Therapeutics to develop first-in-class extended-release therapies for vision-threatening eye diseases. The deal has a potential value exceeding US$1 billion.

Re-Vana Therapeutics is an ocular therapeutics and innovative ocular drug delivery company, founded as a spin-out from Queen’s University Belfast, in Northern Ireland.

The companies said the collaboration will help reduce the need for frequent eye injections, a barrier to compliance and quality of life in patients with chronic ocular diseases.

Under the collaboration, Boehringer Ingelheim aims to add up to three projects per year across therapeutic modalities. The companies will jointly oversee Re-Vana’s feasibility and development activities for the extended-release programmes, with Boehringer Ingelheim assuming sole responsibility for clinical development, regulatory approval, and global commercialisation of the products.

For patients with retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular oedema, treatment often involves monthly intravitreal injections. ReVana’s proprietary platform aims to deliver drugs over extended periods, potentially transforming how these conditions are managed.

“The strategic collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim marks a transformational moment for Re-Vana,” said Re-Vana CEO Michael O’Rourke.

“By combining our extendedrelease platform with Boehringer Ingelheim’s world-class research and development capabilities and eye health pipeline, we strive to bring forward a new generation of longacting treatments for eye diseases that offer clinical and quality-of-life benefits for patients.”