1. RCKT hired Dr. Syed Rizvi as Chief Medical Officer. 2. Equity awards include significant stock options and restricted stock units. 3. The inducement grant encourages Dr. Rizvi's long-term commitment to RCKT. 4. RCKT focuses on genetic therapies for rare diseases with high unmet need. 5. Company's pipeline includes therapies for cardiovascular and hematological disorders.
The hiring of a qualified executive can enhance RCKT's strategic direction and investor confidence. Historical hiring of critical staff in biotech firms often correlates with future performance improvements.
The article emphasizes leadership changes, which can significantly affect strategic direction and operational effectiveness.
Executive hires may take time to influence pipeline development and commercialization. Examples include successful pivots following key appointments in similar biotech firms.
Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT), a fully integrated, late-stage biotechnology company advancing a sustainable pipeline of genetic therapies for rare disorders with high unmet need, today announced that on October 6, 2025, the Compensation Committee of Rocket's Board of Directors approved the grant of inducement equity incentive awards to its newly-hired Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Syed Rizvi.
The inducement awards consist of (i) a nonstatutory stock option to purchase up to 383,854 shares of Rocket common stock (On-Hire Inducement Option), (ii) 283,018 restricted stock units (On-Hire Inducement RSUs), and (iii) 62,893 restricted stock units (Additional Inducement RSUs).
The On-Hire Inducement Option has an exercise price based on the closing price per share as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market as of October 6, 2025, the effective date of the grants. The On-Hire Inducement Option has a 10-year term with a three-year vesting schedule, with 1/3rd of the shares subject to the On-Hire Inducement Option vesting on the first anniversary of the grant date and the remaining 2/3rd of the shares vesting on a quarterly basis over the next two years, subject to Dr. Rizvi's continuous service through each vesting date. The On-Hire Inducement RSUs vest as to 1/3rd of the shares subject to the On-Hire Inducement RSUs on the first anniversary of the grant date and the remaining 2/3rd of the shares vesting on a quarterly basis over the next two years, subject to Dr. Rizvi's continuous service through each vesting date. The Additional Inducement RSUs vest as to one-half of the shares subject to the Additional Inducement RSUs on the first anniversary of the grant date and the remaining shares vesting one year thereafter, subject to Dr. Rizvi's continuous service through each vesting date. In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4), the inducement award grants were approved by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors and were made as a material inducement to Dr. Rizvi entering into employment with Rocket.
About Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT) is a fully integrated, late-stage biotechnology company advancing a sustainable pipeline of investigational genetic therapies designed to correct the root cause of complex and rare disorders. Rocket's innovative multi-platform approach allows us to design the optimal gene therapy for each indication, creating potentially transformative options that enable people living with devastating rare diseases to experience long and full lives.
Rocket's adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector-based cardiovascular portfolio includes a late-stage clinical program for Danon Disease, a devastating heart failure condition resulting in thickening of the heart, and an early-stage clinical program for PKP2-arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), a life-threatening heart failure disease causing ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Rocket has also received IND clearance for its AAV-based gene therapy for BAG3-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a heart failure condition that causes enlarged ventricles.
Rocket's lentiviral (LV) vector-based hematology portfolio consists of late-stage programs for Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I), a severe pediatric genetic disorder that causes recurrent and life-threatening infections which are frequently fatal, Fanconi Anemia (FA), a difficult-to-treat genetic disease that leads to bone marrow failure (BMF) and potentially cancer, and Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency (PKD), a monogenic red blood cell disorder resulting in increased red cell destruction and mild to life-threatening anemia.
For more information about Rocket, please visit www.rocketpharma.com and follow us on LinkedIn, YouTube, and X.
Rocket Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Rocket's future expectations, plans and prospects that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they do not materialize or prove incorrect, could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. We make such forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this release are forward-looking statements. You should not place reliance on these forward-looking statements, which often include words such as "could," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "will give," "estimate," "seek," "will," "may," "suggest" or similar terms, variations of such terms or the negative of those terms. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning expectations regarding the safety and effectiveness of product candidates that Rocket is developing to treat Fanconi Anemia (FA), Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I), Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency (PKD), Danon Disease (DD) and other diseases, the expected timing and data readouts of Rocket's ongoing and planned clinical trials, the expected timing and outcome of Rocket's regulatory interactions and planned submissions, including the timing and outcome of the FDA's review of the additional CMC information that Rocket will provide in response to the FDA's request, the safety, effectiveness and timing of pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, Rocket's ability to establish key collaborations and vendor relationships for its product candidates, Rocket's ability to develop sales and marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to sell and market its product candidates, Rocket's ability to expand its pipeline to target additional indications that are compatible with its gene therapy technologies, Rocket's ability to transition to a commercial stage pharmaceutical company, and Rocket's expectation that its cash, cash equivalents and investments will be sufficient to fund its operations into the second quarter of 2027. 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, Rocket's dependence on third parties for development, manufacture, marketing, sales and distribution of product candidates, the outcome of litigation, unexpected expenditures, Rocket's competitors' activities, including decisions as to the timing of competing product launches, pricing and discounting, Rocket's ability to develop, acquire and advance product candidates into, enroll a sufficient number of patients into, and successfully complete, clinical studies, the integration of new executive team members and the effectiveness of the newly configured corporate leadership team, Rocket's ability to acquire additional businesses, form strategic alliances or create joint ventures and its ability to realize the benefit of such acquisitions, alliances or joint ventures, Rocket's ability to obtain and enforce patents to protect its product candidates, and its ability to successfully defend against unforeseen third-party infringement claims, 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, 2024, filed February 27, 2025 with the SEC and subsequent filings with the SEC including our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. 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.
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