Rocket Pharmaceuticals Prices Upsized Public Offering of Common Stock

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCKT) (“Rocket”), a clinical-stage company advancing an integrated and sustainable pipeline of genetic therapies for rare childhood disorders, today announces the pricing of an upsized underwritten public offering of 4,642,858 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $56.00 per share. The gross proceeds to Rocket from the offering are expected to be approximately $260 million, before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses. Rocket has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 696,428 shares of its common stock.

All the shares in the offering are to be sold by Rocket. The offering is expected to close on or about December 14, 2020, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Rocket intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to further fund the development of its pipeline of gene therapies for rare diseases, including filing for marketing authorization for RP-L201 in the United States and Europe, accelerating the buildout of in-house manufacturing capabilities, and for general corporate purposes. J.P. Morgan, BofA Securities, SVB Leerink and Piper Sandler are acting as the joint bookrunning managers for the public offering.

The public offering is being made by Rocket pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 that was previously filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and declared effective by the SEC. A final prospectus supplement relating to and describing the terms of this offering will be filed with the SEC. When available, copies of the final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to these securities may be obtained from J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Attention: Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, from BofA Securities, NC1-004-03-43, 200 North College Street, 3rd floor, Charlotte, NC 28255-0001, Attn: Prospectus Department, or by email at [e-mail], from SVB Leerink LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, One Federal Street, 37th Floor, Boston, MA 02110, by telephone at [phone], ext. 6132, or by email at [e-mail], or from Piper Sandler & Co., 800 Nicollet Mall, J12S03, Minneapolis, MN 55402, Attention: Prospectus Department, by telephone at [phone], or by email at [e-mail]. You may also obtain these documents free of charge by visiting the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Rocket is advancing an integrated and sustainable pipeline of genetic therapies that correct the root cause of complex and rare childhood disorders. The company’s platform-agnostic approach enables it to design the best therapy for each indication, creating potentially transformative options for patients afflicted with rare genetic diseases. Rocket's clinical programs using lentiviral vector (LVV)-based gene therapy are for the treatment of Fanconi Anemia (FA), a difficult to treat genetic disease that leads to bone marrow failure and potentially cancer, Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I), a severe pediatric genetic disorder that causes recurrent and life-threatening infections which are frequently fatal, Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency (PKD), a rare, monogenic red blood cell disorder resulting in increased red cell destruction and mild to life-threatening anemia and Infantile Malignant Osteopetrosis (IMO), a bone marrow-derived disorder. Rocket’s first clinical program using adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapy is for Danon disease, a devastating, pediatric heart failure condition.

Forward-looking Statements

Various statements in this release concerning Rocket’s future expectations, plans and prospects, including without limitation, Rocket’s expectations regarding the consummation of the offering, the satisfaction of customary closing conditions with respect to the offering, the anticipated use of the net proceeds of the offering, Rocket’s expectations regarding its guidance for 2020 in light of COVID-19, the safety, effectiveness and timing of product candidates that Rocket may develop to treat FA, LAD-I, PKD, IMO and Danon Disease and the safety, effectiveness and timing of related pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, may constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws and are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties and assumptions. You should not place reliance on these forward-looking statements, which often include words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “suggest,” “target,” “will,” “will give,” “would,” or similar terms, variations of such terms or the negative of those terms. Although Rocket believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, Rocket cannot guarantee such outcomes. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, changes as a result of market conditions or for other reasons, the risk that the offering will not be consummated, the impact of general economic, industrial or political conditions in the United States or internationally, Rocket’s ability to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on its business operations and take steps to ensure the safety of its patients, families and employees, the interest from patients and families for participation in each of Rocket’s ongoing trials, our expectations regarding the delays and impact of COVID-19 on clinical sites, patient enrollment, trial timelines and data readouts, our expectations regarding our drug supply for our ongoing and anticipated trials, actions of regulatory agencies, which may affect the initiation, timing and progress of pre-clinical studies and clinical trials of its product candidates, Rocket's dependence on third parties for development, manufacture, marketing, sales and distribution of product candidates, the outcome of litigation, and unexpected expenditures, as well as those risks more fully discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Rocket’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, filed November 6, 2020. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All such statements speak only as of the date made, and Rocket undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.