A clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing medicines for the treatment of hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. Our product candidate, RTN-001, is a next-generation, once-daily, oral, small molecule phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitor designed to reduce blood pressure by potentiating nitric oxide signaling, a key mechanism underlying the development and severity of hypertension.
Hypertension is one of the most common chronic conditions globally and is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Despite long-standing clinical awareness and the availability of multiple treatment classes, it remains widely prevalent, inadequately diagnosed and inadequately treated.
Notwithstanding the broad availability of various antihypertensive therapies, a substantial unmet medical need persists.
Sources: World Health Organization, Global report on hypertension (2025); Kirkland EB, et al., J Am Heart Assoc. 2018
RTN-001 is a tissue-targeted PDE-5 inhibitor engineered to enable more effective distribution into cardiovascular smooth muscle tissues, potentiating nitric oxide signaling through its key intracellular secondary messenger, cGMP, within the arterial smooth muscle cell.
Unlike first-generation PDE-5 inhibitors, RTN-001 was designed specifically to favor restoration of vascular homeostasis in patients with hypertension.
Nitric oxide is an endogenous vasodilator that dilates blood vessels through cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). PDE-5 is the enzyme that degrades cGMP. By inhibiting that degradation, endogenous nitric oxide-mediated vasoregulatory mechanisms are enhanced.
A reduction in nitric oxide availability, a component of endothelial dysfunction, is increasingly recognized as an important contributor to the development and progression of several cardiovascular-related diseases, including hypertension. As nitric oxide levels decline, vasodilatory capacity diminishes, resulting in increased vascular resistance and elevated blood pressure.
First-generation PDE-5 inhibitors were unable to meaningfully reduce blood pressure, which we hypothesize is due to limited biodistribution into the thicker, more compartmentalized, smooth muscle cell-rich central arterial tissues. RTN-001 was engineered using a proprietary surface chemistry-based platform that enables precise tuning of physicochemical properties to more effectively distribute into cardiovascular smooth muscle tissues than first-generation PDE-5 inhibitors, including the aorta, central vascular tree, and the myocardium of the heart.
With the current approaches to blood pressure control remaining unchanged, we believe our next-generation PDE-5 inhibitor has the potential to serve as a differentiated and targeted option for use both as monotherapy and in combination with existing antihypertensive agents across a broad range of patients.
Our goal is to develop and commercialize RTN-001 as a differentiated therapeutic option capable of overcoming the limitations of current antihypertensive treatments. Key elements of our strategy include:
We were founded in 2023 by a leadership team with significant experience in surface chemistry technologies and small molecule drug discovery and development. RTN-001 was originally discovered and developed by Surface Logix, Inc., where members of the Retension team led its conceptualization, invention and early development.
We hold an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing right and license to develop, manufacture and commercialize RTN-001, and we retain ownership of all clinical data arising from the nine completed clinical trials conducted by Surface Logix, including the two Phase 2 pilot trials for the treatment of hypertension.