Re-Vana Therapeutics
A cross-border partnership aims to accelerate long-acting ocular therapies and improve outcomes for patients with retinal disease.
The Opportunity
Vision Loss Doesn’t Just Take Sight. It Takes Connection.
For millions of people living with retinal disease, each eye injection is a difficult reminder of what’s at stake: the ability to read, drive, work and recognize the faces of loved ones. Patients with conditions like wet age-related macular degeneration often endure frequent injections sometimes monthly to maintain their sight. This intense treatment schedule can be physically and emotionally draining, leading many to skip doses, even when the cost is their vision.
Re-Vana Therapeutics’s novel sustained-release ocular drug delivery platforms, EyeLief® and OcuLief® are designed to deliver biologics for 6-12 months and reduce treatment frequency to as few as one or two injections per year. To bring this innovation to market, Re-Vana is advancing its own programs while collaborating with select pharmaceutical partners. Partnering with a world-class company like Boehringer Ingelheim with specific targets provides access to deep expertise, a global reach, and a robust pipeline offering critical validation and the resources needed to scale the business.
The Solution
A Deal Designed to Drive Innovation and Improve Outcomes
Barnes & Thornburg advised Re-Vana on the intellectual property and licensing structure of its collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim. The collaboration combines Boehringer’s ophthalmic development capabilities with Re-Vana’s sustained-release drug delivery technology.
Led by partners Allen Baum and Aisha Hasan in the firm’s Raleigh office, the team worked to define ownership, exclusivity and licensing terms that support Re-Vana’s long-term platform value while enabling strategic co-development.
The structure allows the companies to pursue new therapies that integrate long-acting delivery with Boehringer’s pipeline assets advancing treatments that may reduce the frequency of injections and improve patient adherence in chronic eye diseases.
The Result
A Transformational Collaboration with Billion-Dollar Potential
Re-Vana’s executive team worked closely with Banes & Thornburg to align the legal and commercial structure of the cross-border collaboration with the company’s scientific goals and long-term platform strategy.
As part of the agreement, Boehringer and Re-Vana will jointly manage early-stage development, with Boehringer leading clinical trials and commercialization on a global scale. The transaction includes upfront payments, development and commercial milestones and royalties, with the total deal value exceeding $1 billion for the first three targets alone. Boehringer may pursue up to three new programs per year, each grounded in Re-Vana’s extended-release platform.
“The strategic collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim marks a transformational moment for Re‑Vana,” said Michael O’Rourke, Chief Executive Officer. “By combining our extended-release platform with Boehringer Ingelheim’s world-class research and development capabilities and eye health pipeline, we strive to bring forward a new generation of long-acting treatments for eye diseases that offer clinical and quality-of-life benefits for patients.”