UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported)

January 4, 2021

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

9 Cedarbrook Drive

Cranbury, NJ 08512

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

(646) 440-9100

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Not applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2):

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§ 230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§ 240.12b-2 of this chapter).

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On January 4, 2021, Carlos Garcia-Parada, MBA joined Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the “Company”) as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer and Principal Financial Officer.

Mr. Garcia-Parada, age 56, most recently served as the Vice President & Finance Head Oncology USA at Novartis International AG (“Novartis”), a global pharmaceutical company, a position he held since January 2011. Prior to that role, he held positions of increasing seniority at Novartis and its predecessor company Ciba-Geigy AG, beginning in 1988.  Mr. Garcia-Parada holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago – Booth School of Business and a degree in Accounting from Gran Colombia University, Bogota, Colombia.

Mr. Garcia-Parada’s offer letter provides for “at will” employment. Pursuant to the terms of his offer letter, Mr. Garcia-Parada is entitled to receive an annual base salary of $410,000 per year and a target bonus of 40% of such salary. In accordance with the offer letter, the Company granted Mr. Garcia-Parada a stock option to purchase 125,000 of the Company’s common ordinary shares (the “Option”) pursuant to the Company’s Second Amended and Restated 2014 Stock Option and Incentive Plan with a per share exercise price equal to the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market on the date of grant. One-third of the shares subject to the Option will vest and become exercisable on the one-year anniversary of the date of grant, and the remaining two-thirds of the shares subject to the Option will vest and become exercisable in eight quarterly increments over the following two years, subject to Mr. Garcia-Parada’s continued employment with the Company. Mr. Garcia-Parada has not entered into any related party transactions with the Company that are required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K. Mr. Garcia-Parada has no family relationship with any of the executive officers or directors of the Company. There were neither any arrangements nor any understandings between Mr. Garcia-Parada and any other person pursuant to which he will be appointed as an officer of the Company.

The foregoing description of Mr. Garcia-Parada’s offer letter is only a summary and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the agreement, a copy of which will be filed with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.

John Militello, CPA, previously the Company’s Vice President – Finance, Senior Controller, Treasurer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer, will now serve as the Company’s Vice President – Finance, Senior Controller, Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer.

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

 

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