Re-Vana Therapeutics secures £744m licensing deal

Re-Vana Therapeutics, an ICURe spin-out from Queen’s University Belfast, has signed a significant licensing agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim, one of Germany’s leading pharmaceutical companies. The deal, valued at up to £744.1 million ($1 billion), will see Boehringer Ingelheim licence Re-Vana’s drug delivery system for use with its existing portfolio of eye disease treatments.

This partnership represents a defining moment for Northern Ireland’s life sciences sector and a powerful example of how early-stage university research, supported through Innovate UK’s ICURe programme, can evolve into world-leading commercial ventures.

This landmark deal worth around $1 billion is fantastic news for Belfast firm Re-Vana and their international partner Boehringer Ingelheim. This deal represents a huge vote of confidence in Northern Ireland’s innovation and skills

– Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The first step towards commercial success

Re-Vana’s journey began at Queen’s University Belfast’s School of Pharmacy, where early research into sustained-release ophthalmic drug-delivery systems showed strong potential for industry impact.

Through the ICURe forerunner programme, now ICURe Discover, Entrepreneurial Lead Dr Thakur Raghu Raj Singh undertook structured customer discovery and assumptions testing, engaging with potential industry partners to validate the commercial potential of Re-Vana’s sustained-release technology.

The programme provided a combination of commercialisation training, mentoring and market-validation support, helping the academic team move beyond lab-based research to test its value proposition in real-world settings. The insights gathered helped shape Re-Vana’s business model, refine its technology focus and build the confidence needed to engage investors and global industry leaders.

Thakur Raghu Raj Singh (School of Pharmacy, QUB), Entrepreneurial Lead on ICURe, says, “The ICURe programme gave me the early commercialisation training and support I needed to take those first steps outside the lab. It helped me understand the market opportunity and how to talk to potential partners, which was invaluable at the time. To see how far Re-Vana has come since then is incredibly exciting, and I’m proud to have been part of the company’s journey in its formative stages.”

Geeta Nathan, Deputy Head of Innovation Ecosystem, Innovate UK, commented “We warmly congratulate the Re-Vana team on reaching this transformative milestone. Their success and this landmark deal are a powerful testament to how early support can accelerate university-based innovation into global commercial partnerships. As ICURe marks its next decade, this achievement highlights our continued commitment to unlocking the UK’s research impact and demonstrates to those researchers starting their commercialisation journey just what can be possible.”

Re-Vana’s success demonstrates how early commercialisation support, combined with persistence, partnership and world-class science, can position UK spin-outs to compete and collaborate on a global stage.