Boehringer Ingelheim, Re-Vana Therapeutics to Collaborate on Long-Acting Ophthalmic Therapies

Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) announced on July 27, 2025 a strategic collaboration and license agreement with Re-Vana Therapeutics for extended-release therapies for eye diseases, with the goal of adding up to three projects per year to BI’s pipeline across therapeutic modalities. The deal has a potential deal value of more than $1 billion to be paid to Re-Vana for the initial targets through upfront, development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, plus royalties of net sales (1).

Strengthening the pipeline

BI’s current eye health pipeline, according to a press release, includes four assets in Phase II trials (1). The company said it intends to explore leveraging Re-Vana’s drug delivery technology toward this pipeline; namely, that the technology is designed to release treatments over a 6- to 12-month period. Considering the burden on ophthalmic patients caused by commonly frequent injections made directly into the eye, the collaboration could potentially produce a drastic reduction in injection frequency, encouraging higher treatment compliance possibly leading to better therapeutic outcomes.

“We’re looking forward to team up with Re-Vana to push the boundaries of what’s possible in eye health,” said Nedim Pipic, global head of Mental Health, Eye Health and Emerging Areas at Boehringer Ingelheim, in the release. “Together, we want to tackle the limits of today’s treatments—aiming to help people keep their sight, with fewer injections. This partnership is a bold step forward in our mission to protect vision and ease the burden on patients.”

“The strategic collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim marks a transformational moment for Re-Vana,” said Michael O’Rourke, Re-Vana chief executive officer, also in the release (1). “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.”

Right idea at the right time

The announcement of this partnership is in lockstep with Pharmaceutical Technology® contributing editor Cynthia A. Challener’s story exploring advanced solutions for sustained delivery of ocular therapies. According to Jeffrey S. Heier, chief scientific officer with Ocular Therapeutix, real potential exists for dramatic results stemming from innovative long-acting solutions (2).

“While incremental improvements can be achieved through sophisticated formulations, such as enhancing solubility, prolonging ocular surface retention, or improving penetration through ocular barriers, these refinements often reach a ceiling in terms of clinical impact,” Heier says in the article (2). “In contrast, transformative advances in treating chronic eye diseases are more directly realized through sustained-release delivery technologies, which bypass many of the pharmacokinetic limitations of topical or injectable drugs by providing continuous, controlled delivery of therapeutics directly to targeted intraocular tissues over extended periods.”

Peter Jarrett, chief technical officer for Ocular Therapeutix, agrees, though he cautions that clinical trial results may hit a real-world roadblock due to the variabilities in patient compliance—something the BI–Re-Vana collaboration hopes to streamline.

“A durable therapy that reduces treatment burden could offer not just convenience, but potentially better long-term outcomes for patients who would otherwise fall through the cracks of an intensive treatment schedule,” Jarrett says (2). “Recognizing this balance between ideal clinical trial conditions and the real-world experience of patients is key to advancing more durable treatment options.”

Next for Boehringer Ingelheim

Boehringer Ingelheim will be one of the participating organizations sending speakers and presenters to the 15th annual Partnership Opportunities in Drug Delivery conference, to be held in Boston Oct. 27–28, 2025 (3). The company will join more than two dozen of its development and technology peers in such fields as small molecules, biologics, cell and gene therapies, and RNA-based drugs.

The ink has barely dried on another recent BI agreement, a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Health of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, granting access to and harnessing the capabilities of BI’s OpnME platform, which makes use of four flagship programs to enable the research community to access advanced compounds, expert networks, and other support and collaborative opportunities (4). That partnership was formed during a high-level delegation of Abu Dhabi officials’ strategic mission to the United States in June 2025.

References

1. Boehringer Ingelheim. Boehringer Ingelheim and Re-Vana Therapeutics Announce Strategic Collaboration to Develop Long-Acting Ophthalmic Therapies. Press Release. July 28, 2025.
2. Challener, C. A. Advanced Solutions for Sustained Delivery of Ocular Therapies. PharmTech.com. July 4, 2025.
3. Cole, C. PODD 2025 Unveils Agenda Highlighting Innovation in Drug Delivery Technologies. PharmTech.com, July 16, 2025.
4. The Department of Health—Abu Dhabi. DoH and Boehringer Ingelheim Ink Strategic Partnership to Advance Life Science Innovation Across the Emirate. Press Release. June 16, 2025.