Rocket Pharmaceuticals Appoints R. Keith Woods to Board of Directors
CRANBURY, N.J., December 12, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCKT), a leading late-stage biotechnology company advancing an integrated and sustainable pipeline of genetic therapies for rare disorders with high unmet need, today announced the appointment of R. Keith Woods as an independent, non-executive director to its Board of Directors. Mr. Woods is a seasoned executive with more than 30 years of experience spanning commercialization, global operations, business strategy and supply chain.
"I’m thrilled to welcome Keith to our Board of Directors, who brings deep industry expertise and invaluable experience to the Rocket Board as we build upon our commercial and operational infrastructure to support our anticipated first product launches for severe Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency (LAD-I) and Fanconi Anemia (FA)," said Gaurav Shah, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Rocket Pharma. "Keith’s hands-on experience advancing a highly successful, global biotech company from clinical to commercial stage and successfully launching products across multiple geographies will be a tremendous asset as we develop and prepare to deliver gene therapies from our world-class pipeline to patients with devastating hematologic and cardiovascular conditions."
Mr. Woods most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of argenx, where he led its global commercial organization, including marketing, market access, medical affairs, program management, and supply chain, during the company’s successful transition to commercial stage. He helped launch Vyvgart, a treatment for a rare autoimmune condition that causes muscle weakness, generating more than $1 billion in sales. Prior to argenx, Mr. Woods was the Senior Vice President of North America Business Operations at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw the U.S. and Canada business and was responsible for more than $1 billion in annual sales. He previously served as Vice President and Managing Director of Alexion UK, Vice President of U.S. Commercial Operations and Executive Director of Sales, leading the launch of Soliris in atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome.
"It is an honor to join Rocket’s Board at this critical time, as the company prepares to launch its first potential gene therapy for a rare disease," said Mr. Woods. "I have admired Rocket’s innovative science across its hematology and cardiovascular portfolios and look forward to working closely with Rocket leadership to help the company realize its full potential through the expected transition from R&D to commercial stage."
Mr. Woods serves as an advisor to the Board of Directors at argenx and is a member of the Board of Directors at both X4 Pharmaceuticals and TScan Therapeutics. Earlier in his career, Mr. Woods held commercial and sales positions of increasing responsibility at Roche, Amgen and Eisai. Mr. Woods holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Florida State University.
About Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCKT) is advancing an integrated and sustainable pipeline of investigational genetic therapies designed to correct the root cause of complex and rare 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 (LV) vector-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, and Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency (PKD), a rare, monogenic red blood cell disorder resulting in increased red cell destruction and mild to life-threatening anemia. Rocket’s first clinical program using adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapy is for Danon Disease, a devastating, pediatric heart failure condition. Rocket also is developing AAV-based gene therapy programs in PKP2-arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) and BAG3-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). For more information about Rocket, please visit www.rocketpharma.com.
Rocket Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Various statements in this release concerning Rocket’s future expectations, plans and prospects, including without limitation, Rocket’s 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, Rocket’s plans for the advancement of its Danon Disease program, including its planned pivotal trial, 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 "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. 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 ability to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on its business operations and take steps to ensure the safety of 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 Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed February 28, 2023 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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