Retension Pharmaceuticals Adds Experienced Execs to Leadership Team

Retension Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing RTN-001 for the treatment of hypertension, has appointed Alison D. Schecter, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer and Alex Schwartz as Chief Financial Officer as the company advances RTN-001 through its ongoing Phase 2b trial.

“Alison and Alex bring the caliber of leadership Retension needs as it advances RTN-001 through its ongoing Phase 2b trial,” said Eric Keller, CEO of Retension Pharmaceuticals. “We are fortunate to have them both.”

Alison D. Schecter, M.D., Chief Medical Officer

Schecter is a physician-scientist with board certifications in cardiology and internal medicine and has more than 25 years of expertise in cardiology and immunology, including experience in inflammation, cardiometabolic disease, and thrombosis. She joins Retension from Mineralys Therapeutics Inc. where she served as Chief Development Officer and oversaw three registration trials in hypertension.

Schecter completed her internal medicine training at Johns Hopkins and a Cardiology fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital. As an academic physician and tenured Associate Professor in Immunology and Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, she built and served as co-founder of Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s Cardiovascular Research Institute.

Schecter previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Molecules to Medicine Advisory Group, President of Research and Development at Axcella Health Inc., and Chief Medical Officer at Selecta Biosciences Inc. At Sanofi-Genzyme, she was Global Project Head and Business Development liaison for Rare Diseases, playing a central role in the approval of Xenpozyme. As Head of Hemophilia Programs at Baxalta Incorporated, she led the approval of Adynovate.

Schecter currently serves on the scientific advisory boards of Rapafusyn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Tectonic Therapeutic, Inc.

Alex Schwartz — Chief Financial Officer

Schwartz is a seasoned finance executive with more than 15 years of experience both on the corporate side as well as on Wall Street as a biotechnology equity research analyst. He most recently served as Vice President of Financial Planning & Analysis and Investor Relations at Ventyx Biosciences, Inc., which was acquired by Eli Lilly and Company in March 2026.

Prior to Ventyx, Schwartz held senior finance and investor relations roles at Allakos Inc., NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. and Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. and provided financial and strategic leadership for Phase 2 and Phase 3 development, FDA and EMA approvals, and commercial launch. Earlier in his career, he was an equity research analyst at Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, where he covered cardiovascular and other therapeutic areas across the biotechnology sector.

Schwartz holds a B.S. in Finance from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and an M.B.A. from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management.