Our November Company of the month is MediNect, and we spoke to CEO, James Bojdo and James shared his journey with his company.
Before founding MediNect, I worked at a CRO where I helped improve many of its services and later gained experience in a start-up biotech. That combination gave me insight into both sides of the industry – service delivery and product development. After conversations with Professor Alan Stitt and several companies in the ophthalmology space, I realised there was a real gap in the market for a more collaborative, academically informed approach to working with biotech and pharma partners in retinal disease research.
This idea was made possible through the ICURe programme at SETsquared, which supported me to carry out market research while working as a postdoc. With that foundation, I went on to incorporate MediNect, with the help of QUBIS, secure an Innovate UK grant, and later receive an Ambition to Grow grant from Invest NI, who have been extremely supportive with both advice and funding as we’ve scaled – Thanks Moraig!
My role as CEO of MediNect, means I focus primarily on high-level strategy: from marketing and business development to company growth and expansion of our service portfolio. If I had to define my strength, I’d say it’s knowing where I’m not the expert and surrounding myself with people who are. For example, I knew early on that I wasn’t the best at communicating complex science or that I lacked deep expertise in retinal disease. While I could lean on Alan, we needed someone who had more time and that’s why bringing in Kevin Harkin, our Head of Ophthalmology, was such a pivotal decision – he’s exceptional at both the science and the communication side, which allows me to focus on growing the business with full confidence in our scientific leadership.
MediNect offices and labs are located in Belfast, we have our own labs and access to state-of-the-art retinal imaging equipment and research facilities. It’s actually a fantastic location for what we do. Being in Belfast is key as we are located close to the best talent in NI and logistically, it’s ideal – shipping samples from Great Britain to Northern Ireland is straightforward, and it’s also easier for EU clients to send samples here, via Dublin, compared to getting through into GB. That accessibility, combined with a growing innovation ecosystem and strong institutional support, makes Northern Ireland a very attractive base for a company like ours.
MediNect specialises in preclinical research services for retinal diseases, providing biotech and pharma clients with the insight and confidence they need to make key go/no-go decisions in their drug development programmes. Our work covers both in vitro and in vivo models, designed to accurately reflect disease mechanisms and translational outcomes. We are recognised leaders in modelling aspects of wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) and Diabetic Retinopathy – areas where we’ve built deep expertise in replicating the pathological mechanisms in the retina. These models allow our clients to test and refine therapeutic strategies for different stages of disease, and importantly where current treatments fall short.
In parallel, we are expanding our capabilities to include a comprehensive dry AMD package, enabling clients to assess whether their therapeutics can target the key mechanisms underlying atrophic degeneration – including complement activation, oxidative stress, and photoreceptor loss.
What makes MediNect stand out is not only our technical excellence, but our understanding of the nuances and limitations of preclinical research, and our commitment to ensuring it’s done properly. We take a client-focused and agile approach, tailoring each study to the specific scientific and strategic goals of the programme. Ultimately, our goal is to bridge the gap between academic discovery and industry application — delivering preclinical data that genuinely de-risks development and accelerates translation to the clinic.
Our innovation lies in how we combine academic expertise with industry efficiency. We don’t just replicate standard preclinical models, we refine them, build new ones where gaps exist, and design studies that add true translational and clinical value, which is exactly what investors and development partners look for.
We’ve deliberately kept an academic mindset within the company, one that values curiosity, critical thinking, and a deep understanding of biological mechanisms. This gives us a real advantage in the market: it means our models are rooted in scientific rigour while being guided by commercial awareness. Interestingly, we’ve started to see our competitors trying to emulate our approach, a reassuring sign that we’re setting a new benchmark in our specialised field.
Rather than standing still, we channel that validation into staying ahead of the curve. We continuously invest in a pipeline of innovative preclinical models, ensuring that the next wave of therapeutic innovations, particularly in retinal disease, are better prepared for clinical testing and have a higher likelihood of success. By bridging academic insight and commercial relevance, we’re helping biotech and pharma partners accelerate development, make better-informed decisions, and ultimately bring more effective therapies to patients.
We’re entering an exciting phase of growth at MediNect. One of our next big steps is the introduction of zebrafish models into our service portfolio. This addition will allow us to offer cost-effective early proof-of-concept studies and drug screening options, helping clients evaluate compounds quickly before committing to more complex in vivo studies. It’s an important step toward broadening our translational toolbox and supporting smarter, more efficient preclinical decision-making.
We’re proud to be sponsoring RetInnovate 2025 and 2026 and awarding the winning pitch a £25k award. The event is designed to help early-stage companies and researchers looking to commercialise their research and better navigate the realities of drug development. RetInnovate covers the full journey; from understanding what investors look for, to exploring drug reimbursement and market access, and everything in between.
At MediNect, we believe that the success of new therapies begins long before they reach the clinic. Robust and innovative preclinical models generate stronger more translatable data, enabling better-informed strategic go/no-go decisions. With major pharmaceutical companies making bold moves into the ophthalmic space, we’re perfectly positioned in a strong market to help pharma, biotech, and academic partners accelerate the development of better treatments for patients with sight loss, and that’s what drives us to keep growing on this steep trajectory.
