Rocket Pharmaceuticals Announces Closing of Public Offering and Full Exercise of the Underwriters’ Option to Purchase Additional Shares

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:RCKT) (“Rocket”), a leading U.S.-based multi-platform gene therapy company, today announces the closing of its previously announced underwritten public offering of 5,175,000 shares of its common stock, which includes the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase 675,000 additional shares of its common stock, at a public offering price of $17.50 per share. The gross proceeds to Rocket from the offering are expected to be approximately $90.6 million, before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses.

Rocket intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to further fund the development of its pipeline of gene therapies for rare diseases, to accelerate the buildout of in-house manufacturing capabilities, and for general corporate purposes.

SVB Leerink, Evercore ISI and William Blair acted as joint-bookrunning managers for the offering. Oppenheimer & Co. acted as lead manager for the offering.

The public offering was 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 was filed with the SEC on April 17, 2019. Copies of the final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to these securities may be obtained from SVB Leerink LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, One Federal Street, 37th Floor, Boston, MA 02110, by telephone at [phone], ext. 6132, or by email [e-mail]; Evercore Group L.L.C., Attention: Equity Capital Markets, 55 East 52nd Street, 36th Floor, New York, NY 10055, by telephone at [phone], or by email at [e-mail]; and William Blair & Company, L.L.C., Attention: Prospectus Department, 150 North Riverside Plaza, Chicago, IL 60606, 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.

Forward-looking Statements

Various statements in this release concerning Rocket’s future expectations, plans and prospects, including without limitation, the anticipated use of the net proceeds of the offerings, 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 offerings will not be consummated, and the impact of general economic, industrial or political conditions in the United States or internationally, as well as those risks more fully discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Rocket's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. 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.