Michael O’Rourke has spent more than three decades at the forefront of drug delivery innovation, leading the launch of the world’s first two intraocular sustained-release therapies treating serious eye diseases. Today, as CEO and Chair of Re-Vana Therapeutics, he is channelling that lifelong passion into advancing breakthrough ocular drug delivery systems from the company’s base in Belfast.
With deep roots in Queen’s University Belfast, strong support from local investors, and a growing global presence, Re-Vana has emerged as one of Northern Ireland’s most promising biotech companies. Read more on Michael’s story as he reflects on his career, the company’s transatlantic growth, and why Belfast’s talent and ecosystem remain central to Re-Vana’s success.
Q&A with Michael O’Rourke
CEO of Re-Vana Therapeutics
Can you tell us about Re-Vana? What sparked the idea, and what support did you receive?
Re-Vana Therapeutics was founded in 2016 by Professors Raj Thakur and David Jones at Queen’s University Belfast. The company emerged from PhD research that demonstrated light-based photo-crosslinking avoiding the use of heat could be used to fabricate biodegradable implants capable of delivering biologics and other complex therapeutics to the eye on a long-term sustained basis without the need for surgery. This represented a breakthrough with the potential to transform care for patients with blinding retinal diseases.
The medical need is clear. Patients with potentially blinding eye conditions like age-related macular degeneration and other retinal diseases often endure three to nine intravitreal injections per year, depending on the therapy. Receiving frequent injections in the eye is an enormous burden to patients physically, emotionally, and economically. Our technology offers the potential to extend dosing intervals to six months or longer, thus reducing the frequency of injection and addressing a significant unmet need among physicians and patients in a global retina pharmaceutical market projected to reach £20 billion by 2029.
From the outset, Belfast’s innovation ecosystem played a decisive role in our progress. QUBIS, Queen’s University’s investment arm led by Brian McCaul, provided critical early advice and support, joined by local investors such as Techstart, Clarendon Fund Managers and Invest Northern Ireland. Queen’s University was incredibly supportive and continues to be so today. With other supporting organisations now, such as HIRANI, the network has only strengthened. Local retina physician Mr. Jim Sharkey also provided valuable input. Simply put, Re-Vana would probably not exist today without the grassroots support of Queen’s University and the Belfast ecosystem.
You’ve spent much of your career in drug delivery. What drew you to this field?
My passion for drug delivery began at 3M Pharmaceuticals back in the 1980s, where I spent four years as a sales representative. I sold a sustained-release asthma drug that reduced dosing from four tablets daily to just one. That experience showed me, very directly, how innovation in delivery, not just the drug itself, can improve quality of life, compliance and therapeutic outcomes.
Interestingly, part of my sales territory included hospitals in Northern Ireland, where I promoted a new heart drug that was saving lives. Returning decades later to lead Re-Vana in Belfast feels like a full-circle moment, and it’s great to be back.
My career then took me into the orthopedics sector with Howmedica (later Stryker) in London and Hong Kong, where I managed trauma implant programs across Asia Pacific. Later, with Alza Corporation, I helped launch the world’s first sustained-release periodontal therapy in Europe, before moving into ophthalmology with Chiron Vision. There, I led the European team launching the world’s first sustained-release intraocular implant (Vitrasert®) in 1995, which treated CMV retinitis, a blinding condition in HIV patients. Instead of continuous infusions, patients finally had an implant delivering antiviral therapy directly into the eye for four to six months.
After Chiron Vision was acquired by Bausch & Lomb, I relocated to California, then Rochester New York and finally Tampa, Florida, where, as General Manager, I ran the U.S. pharmaceutical business. There, in 2005, I led the team that launched Retisert®, the world’s second sustained-release intraocular implant, delivering therapy for up to 32 months for patients with non infectious uveitis, another serious eye disease.
These experiences convinced me that drug delivery innovation is one of the most powerful levers we have to change lives. That passion has guided me ever since.
What is your role today at Re-Vana?
As CEO and Board Chair, my role is to set strategy, secure the funding we need to advance our programs, and most importantly, build and empower a world-class team. In biotech, patents and ideas are at the heart of what we do but success ultimately comes down to the team’s passion, resilience, and ability to execute.
I feel privileged to lead a team in Belfast and the U.S. whose talent and commitment are at the heart of our progress. Their dedication, combined with the broader support of Belfast’s ecosystem, has given Re-Vana the momentum to grow from a university spin-out into a venture-backed biotech company with internal assets and strategic collaborations with major pharmaceutical partners.
At the core, I do this work to improve the lives of patients with blinding diseases. But I’m also motivated by the opportunity to inspire the next generation of scientists and entrepreneurs to pursue innovation in ocular drug delivery.
Where is Re-Vana based, and how has Northern Ireland shaped your growth?
Our R&D operations are in Belfast, where most of our scientific team is located. Being currently embedded in the Queen’s University ecosystem has provided us with access to talented PhDs and collaborative research opportunities. Belfast also offers strong investor networks and government support through Invest Northern Ireland. The parent holding company of Re-Vana is in Tampa, Florida.
We operate as a transatlantic company. I am based in Tampa, our Chief Operating Officer Patrick Ruane, originally from Donegal, is in California, and our new Chief Business Officer Hans Christinger is in New Jersey. This structure allows us to combine Belfast’s scientific depth with direct access to U.S. venture capital and strategic partners. As you can imagine, we travel a lot and spend a lot of our time in Belfast.
We raised $1.7 million in 2017, $3.5 million in 2020, and $11.9 million in 2022. Those rounds brought together U.S. ophthalmology-focused investors, ExSight Ventures (New York), Visionary Ventures (California), and InFocus Capital Partners (Chicago) with Belfast’s QUBIS, Techstart, Clarendon, and Invest Northern Ireland. That blend of global capital and local support has been central to our growth. We have also secured Innovate UK grants, bringing valuable non-dilutive capital into the company.
What exactly does Re-Vana do?
We are advancing the treatment of blinding eye diseases by pioneering our photo crosslinked sustained-release biodegradable hydrogel technologies, EyeLief® and OcuLief®, delivering biologics and other complex therapeutics for six to twelve months following a single in-office administration, avoiding both surgery and the need for frequent injections.
Our proprietary photo-crosslinking technologies allows us to overcome challenges that have historically limited long-duration ocular delivery of biologics. However, we are not just a drug delivery company; we are pursuing a dual strategy by advancing our own internal extended delivery pipeline with two licensed therapeutics, while also collaborating externally with pharmaceutical partners to apply our platform technologies to their biologics and other complex therapeutics.
What makes Re-Vana innovative?
Very few companies worldwide have demonstrated the ability to deliver biologics and other complex molecules for such extended periods without surgery. Our innovation lies in making this possible through minimally invasive, office-based procedures.
That innovation was validated in July 2025 when we entered a transformative partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim. After a thorough due diligence process, we signed a strategic collaboration deal worth up to $1 billion plus royalties across three potential programs in year one. Under the agreement, Boehringer provides their eye health pipeline, and we apply our technology to create extended-release formulations.
This was a milestone not only for Re-Vana but with sustained release delivery, also I believe for Queens University and Northern Ireland’s biotech ecosystem, which is now firmly on the global map.
What lessons have you learned taking Re-Vana from spin-out to major partnership?
One of the biggest lessons is that while academic innovation provides the critical spark, building a successful biotech company requires shifting to a true industry mindset: bringing in seasoned professionals, establishing strong governance, continually aiming to raise substantial capital, and ensuring quality and regulatory systems are in place with disciplined execution. We have a very experienced and supportive board of directors and a world class scientific advisory board that includes global key opinion leaders in retinal diseases.
Resilience and adaptability are also critical. The journey from seed funding to securing a strategic $billion milestones partnership with a leading global pharmaceutical company like Boehringer is rarely linear. Start-ups must evolve and adapt constantly; flexibility often becomes a competitive strength.
Above all, strategy is only 10% of success; 90% is execution. And execution depends on the team. Our Belfast-based scientists and U.S. team are our greatest asset, and their passion continues to drive every milestone we achieve.
Looking ahead, what does success look like for Re-Vana?
Success will be defined in two ways: advancing our internal pipeline of sustained-release biologics into clinical development and continuing to secure and deliver on strategic partnerships.
We are currently aiming to raise a $40M Series B round for clinical trials.
Our collaboration with Boehringer is only the beginning. We intend to expand the reach of our technology as we develop our internal assets and grow our external collaborations.
Our ultimate goal is to reduce injection frequency from monthly or bimonthly to once or twice a year and achieve success in the trials. This would transform patient care, ease the strain on clinics, and significantly improve quality of life for millions worldwide.
With the dedication of our team and the strength of Belfast’s ecosystem, I believe Re-Vana is exceptionally well positioned to lead the next era of ocular drug delivery.
