Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc DEF 14A, filed Apr 30, 2025

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (RCKT)

DEF 14A 2025-04-30 For: 2025-06-18

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Added on June 12, 2026

About this DEF 14A

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc filed this DEF 14A on April 30, 2025.

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Sincerely yours,

/s/ Gaurav Shah
Gaurav Shah, M.D.
Chief Executive Officer and Director


DATE			June 18, 2025

TIME			9:00 a.m. Eastern Time

PLACE			Solely by means of remote communication via the Internet at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/RCKT2025


By Order of the Board of Directors

/s/ Gaurav Shah
Gaurav Shah, M.D.
Chief Executive Officer and Director
Cranbury, New Jersey
April 30, 2025


			Page
GENERAL INFORMATION			1
PROPOSAL 1 ELECTION OF DIRECTORS			7
Vote Required			7
Our Recommendation			7
DIRECTORS AND NOMINEES			8
Nominees for Election as Directors			8
Information about Our Executive Officers			11
Information about the Board and Corporate Governance			13
AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT			16
PROPOSAL 2 RATIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM			20
Vote Required			20
Our Recommendation			20
Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures			20
Audit Fees and Services			20
PROPOSAL 3 NON-BINDING VOTE ON NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICER COMPENSATION			22
Vote Required			22
Our Recommendation			22
COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS			24
Compensation Committee Report			35
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION			36
2024 Summary Compensation Table			36
Executive Agreements; Termination and Change in Control Benefits			40
CEO Pay Ratio			46
Pay Versus Performance			47
DIRECTOR COMPENSATION			52
2024 Director Compensation Table			53
TRANSACTIONS WITH RELATED PERSONS			54
Policies and Procedures for Related Person Transactions			54
Certain Related-Person Transactions			54
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT			55
Delinquent Section 16 Reports			57
EQUITY COMPENSATION PLAN INFORMATION			58
STOCKHOLDER PROPOSALS AND NOMINATIONS			59
OTHER MATTERS			60
AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS			60


Name	Age	Position(s) Held	Director Since
Roderick Wong, M.D.	48	Chairman of the Board	2018
Elisabeth Björk, M.D., Ph.D.	63	Director	2020
Carsten Boess	58	Director	2016
Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D.	67	Director	2024
Pedro Granadillo	78	Director	2018
Gotham Makker, M.D.	53	Director	2018
Fady Malik, M.D., Ph.D.	61	Director	2022
Piratip Pratumsuwan	33	Director	2025
Gaurav Shah, M.D.	50	Chief Executive Officer and Director	2018
David P. Southwell	64	Director	2014


Filed by the Registrant ☒			Filed by a party other than the Registrant ☐


	2024	2023
Audit Fees⁽¹⁾	$555,608	$531,430
Audit-Related Fees⁽²⁾	—	—
Tax Fees⁽³⁾	$121,553	$125,670
All Other Fees⁽⁴⁾	—	—
Total	$677,161	$657,100


What We Do			What We Don’t Do
☑ Establish pay-for-performance philosophy and culture ☑ Set goals for target direct compensation, over two-thirds of which are performance-based and/or at risk ☑ Maintain independent compensation committee ☑ Hire and retain independent compensation consultant ☑ Use shares under our long-term incentive program responsibly			☒ Allow for pledging without prior Board approval or hedging of Company stock by executive officers or directors ☒ Provide tax gross-up payments ☒ Provide for single trigger vesting of equity awards ☒ Provide for excessive severance in the event of a change in control ☒ Allow for repricing, cash-out or exchange of “underwater” stock options without stockholder approval


What We Do			What We Don’t Do
☑ Conduct annual risk assessment of our compensation program ☑ Limit perquisites and personal benefits ☑ Maintain a clawback policy covering incentive-based cash and equity compensation ☑ Require our directors and executive officers to maintain specified levels of stock ownership			☒ Provide executive pension plans or supplemental retirement plans


Named Executive Officer	Fiscal 2023 Base Salary	Fiscal 2024 Base Salary
Gaurav D. Shah	$625,000	$655,200
Aaron Ondrey	—	$485,000
John Militello	$317,506	$329,600
Kinnari Patel	$537,125	$561,600
Martin Wilson	$423,333	$463,250
Jonathan Schwartz	$447,433	$468,000


Named Executive Officer	Fiscal 2024 Total Target Cash Incentive ($)	Fiscal 2024 Total Target Cash Incentive (as a % of Base Salary)
Gaurav D. Shah	381,528	60%
Aaron Ondrey	163,198	45%
John Militello	96,118	30%
Kinnari Patel	272,520	50%
Martin Wilson	181,024	40%
Jonathan Schwartz	181,680	40%


Named Executive Officer	2024 Target Cash Incentive Award Opportunity	Company Performance Payout	Individual Multiplier	2024 Cash Incentive Award Payment	Payout Percentage of Target
Gaurav D. Shah	381,528	80%	62.5%	190,764	50%
Aaron Ondrey	163,198	80%	90.0%	136,260	72%
John Militello	96,118	80%	90.0%	69,205	72%
Kinnari Patel	272,520	80%	62.5%	117,502	50%
Martin Wilson	181,024	80%	90.0%	146,629	81%
Jonathan Schwartz	181,680	80%	100.0%	145,344	80%


Named Executive Officer	Number of Shares Subject to Options (#)	Exercise Price	Number of Shares Subject to RSUs (#)	Aggregate Grant Date Fair Value
Gaurav D. Shah	196,366	$30.01	66,577	$5,999,973
Aaron Ondrey	69,337	$26.72	46,781	$2,499,971
John Militello	24,545	$30.01	8,322	$749,978
Kinnari Patel	98,183	$30.01	33,288	$2,999,971
Martin Wilson	49,091	$30.01	16,644	$1,499,976
Jonathan Schwartz	57,273	$30.01	19,418	$1,749,975


Name and Principal Position	Year	Salary ($)	Bonus ($)⁽¹⁾	Stock Awards ($)⁽²⁾	Option Awards ($)⁽³⁾	Non-Equity Incentive Compensation ($)⁽⁴⁾	All Other Compensation ($)⁽⁵⁾	Total ($)
Gaurav D. Shah, M.D. Chief Executive Officer	2024	635,880	—	1,997,976	4,001,997	190,764	14,790	6,841,407
	2023	625,000	—	2,330,993	4,668,994	375,000	13,566	8,013,553
	2022	598,333	—	1,814,989	3,684,991	434,390	20,500	6,553,203
Aaron Ondrey Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer⁽⁶⁾	2024	362,662	—	1,249,988	1,249,983	117,502	9,628	2,989,763
John Militello, CPA Principal Accounting Officer and Former Interim Principal Financial Officer, Vice President⁽⁸⁾	2024	341,455	—	249,743	500,234	69,205	14,951	1,175,588
	2023	409,014	5,000	332,985	666,991	100,014	13,566	1,527,570
	2022	376,788		664,976	584,988	104,133	20,500	1,751,386
Kinnari Patel, Pharm.D., MBA President, Head of R&D and Chief Operating Officer⁽⁷⁾	2024	545,040	—	3,998,967	2,000,999	136,260	14,790	6,696,055
	2023	537,125	—	1,331,999	2,667,993	295,419	13,566	4,846,102
	2022	522,750	—	1,824,468	1,842,489	314,978	12,200	4,516,885
Martin Wilson General Counsel and Chief Corporate Officer, Senior VP	2024	452,560	—	499,486	1,000,489	146,629	14,790	2,113,954
Jonathan Schwartz, M.D. Chief Medical and Gene Therapy Officer	2024	454,200	—	582,734	1,167,241	145,344	14,790	2,364,309
	2023	447,433	—	832,482	1,667,492	196,871	13,566	3,157,844
	2022	434,600	—	894,988	1,004,996	189,420	8,453	2,532,457


		Estimated Future Payouts Under Non-Equity Incentive Plan Awards	Estimated future payouts under equity incentive plan awards			All Other Stock Awards: Number of Shares of Stock or Units (#)⁽⁴⁾	All Other Option Awards: Number of Securities Underlying Options (#)⁽⁵⁾	Exercise or Base Price of Option Awards ($/share)	Grant Date Fair Value of Stock and Option Awards ($)⁽¹⁾
	Grant Date	Target ($)⁽²⁾	Threshold (#)	Target (#)	Maximum (#)			Exercise or Base Price of Option Awards ($/share)	Grant Date Fair Value of Stock and Option Awards ($)⁽¹⁾
Gaurav Shah, M.D.	2/16/24	381,528	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	2/16/24	—	—	—	—	66,577	—	—	1,997,976
	2/16/24	—	—	—	—	—	196,366	30.01	4,001,997
Aaron Ondrey	4/1/24	163,198	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	4/1/24	—	—	—	—	46,781	—	—	1,249,988
	4/1/24	—	—	—	—	—	69,337	26.72	1,249,983
John Militello	2/16/24	96,118	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	2/16/24	—	—	—	—	8,322	—	—	249,743
	2/16/24	—	—	—	—	—	24,545	30.01	500,234
Kinnari Patel, Pharm.D., MBA	2/16/24	272,520	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	2/16/24	—	—	—	—	33,288	—	—	998,973
	3/4/24	—	—	104,493⁽³⁾	—	—	—	—	2,999,994
	2/16/24	—	—	—	—	—	98,183	30.01	2,000,999
Martin Wilson	2/16/24	181,024	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	2/16/24	—	—	—	—	16,644	—	—	499,486
	2/16/24	—	—	—	—	—	49,041	30.01	1,000,489
Jonathan Schwartz, M.D.	2/16/24	181,680	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	2/16/24	—	—	—	—	19,418	—	—	582,734
	2/16/24	—	—	—	—	—	57,273	30.01	1,167,241


	Option awards				Stock awards
Name	Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Exercisable	Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Unexercisable(1)	Option Exercise Price ($)	Option Expiration Date	Number of Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested (#)	Market Value of Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested ($)(2)	Equity incentive plan awards: number of unearned shares, units or other rights that have not vested (#)	Equity incentive plan awards: market or payout value of unearned shares, units or other rights that have not vested ($)
Gaurav D. Shah, M.D.	76,490	—	1.69	4/12/27	—	—	—	—
	395,000	—	18.75	3/29/28	—	—	—	—
	315,700	—	14.56	1/28/29	—	—	—	—
	383,306	—	22.72	2/6/30	—	—	—	—
	185,000	—	62.32	2/4/31	—	—	—	—
	272,160	24,877	19.05	2/14/32	—	—	—	—
	203,489	145,101	20.04	2/14/33	—	—	—	—
	—	196,366	30.01	2/16/34	—	—	—	—
	—	—	—	—	124,876⁽³⁾	1,569,691	—	—
Aaron Ondrey	—	69,337	26.72	4/1/34	—	—	—	—
Aaron Ondrey	—	—	—	—	46,781⁽⁴⁾	588,637	—	—
John Militello, CPA	10,000	—	12.55	1/8/28	—	—	—	—
	10,000	—	18.75	3/29/28	—	—	—	—
	10,000	—	20.61	6/25/28	—	—	—	—
	20,000	—	14.56	1/28/29	—	—	—	—
	10,000	—	10.85	9/2/29	—	—	—	—
	20,000	—	22.72	2/6/30	—	—	—	—
	2,000	—	23.89	2/10/30	—	—	—	—
	18,000	—	24.82	8/3/30	—	—	—	—
	18,000	—	62.32	2/4/31	—	—	—	—
	24,741	2,262	19.05	2/14/32	—	—	—	—
	24,096	4,814	13.12	4/18/32	—	—	—	—
	28,667	21,131	20.04	2/14/33	—	—	—	—
	—	24,545	30.01	2/15/34	—	—	—	—
	—	—	—	—	33,450⁽⁷⁾	420,467	—	—
Kinnari Patel, Pharm.D., M.B.A.	175,000	—	18.75	3/29/28	—	—	—	—
	180,000	—	14.56	1/28/29	—	—	—	—
	50,000	—	10.85	9/2/29	—	—	—	—
	150,000	—	22.72	2/6/30	—	—	—	—
	15,000	—	23.89	2/10/30	—	—	—	—
	50,000	—	23.05	9/8/30	—	—	—	—
	120,000	—	62.32	2/4/31	—	—	—	—
	136,079	12,439	19.05	2/14/32	—	—	—	—
	116,279	82,915	20.04	2/14/33	—	—	—	—
	—	98,183	30.01	2/16/34	—	—	—	—
	—	—	—	—	117,436⁽⁵⁾	1,476,171	—	—
	—	—	—	—	—	—	34,831⁽⁸⁾	437,826


Name	Number of Shares Acquired Upon Vesting (#)	Value Realized on Vesting ($)⁽¹⁾
Gaurav D. Shah, M.D.	99,816	2,350,559
Aaron Ondrey	—	—
John Militello, CPA	18,944	445,488
Kinnari Patel, Pharm.D., M.B.A.	54,758	1,294,531
Jonathan Schwartz, M.D.	32,953	781,955
Martin Wilson	16,974	165,481


Executive Benefits and Payment upon Termination	Termination by Company without Cause or Resignation For Good Reason Not in Connection with a Change in Control ($)	Termination due to Death or Disability ($)	Termination by Company without Cause or Voluntary Resignation for Good Reason within 12 Months Following a Change in Control ($)
Compensation:
Cash Severance	1,048,320	393,120	1,375,920
Acceleration of Equity Awards⁽¹⁾	—	1,569,691	1,569,691
Health care continuation	31,308	—	46,962
Total	1,079,628	1,962,811	2,992,573


					Value of Initial Fixed $100 Investment Based On:
Year	Summary Compensation Table Total for PEO⁽¹⁾	Compensation Actually Paid to PEO⁽²⁾	Average Summary Compensation Table Total for Non-PEO NEOS⁽³⁾	Average Compensation Actually Paid to Non-PEO NEOS⁽⁴⁾	Total Shareholder Return⁽⁵⁾	Peer Group Total Shareholder Return⁽⁶⁾	Net income (in thousands)⁽⁷⁾
2024	$6,841,407	($1,671,681)	$3,067,934	($337,405)	$55.23	$113.84	($258,746)
2023	$8,013,553	$12,366,504	$3,477,295	$5,584,040	$131.68	$115.42	($245,595)
2022	$6,553,203	$5,185,698	$2,714,046	$2,414,745	$85.98	$111.27	($221,863)
2021	$7,918,750	($4,329,821)	$3,598,514	($380,245)	$95.91	$124.89	($169,069)
2020	$6,859,135	$21,732,137	$1,897,164	$4,591,740	$240.95	$125.69	($139,700)


Year	Reported Summary Compensation Table Total for PEO^(a)	Reported Summary Compensation Table Value of PEO Equity Awards^(b)	Adjusted Value of Equity Awards^(c)	Compensation Actually Paid to PEO
2024	$6,841,407	($5,999,973)	($2,513,115)	($1,671,681)


Year	Year End Fair Value of Equity Awards Granted in the Year	Year over Year Change in Fair Value of Equity Awards Granted in Prior Years and Outstanding and Unvested at FYE	Fair Value as of Vesting Date of Equity Awards Granted and Vested in the Year	Change in Fair Value (from the End of the Prior Year) as of the Vesting Date of Equity Awards Granted in Prior Years that Vested in the Year	Fair Value at the End of the Prior Year of Equity Awards that Failed to Meet Vesting Conditions in the Year	Value of Dividends or other Earnings Paid on Stock or Option Awards not Otherwise Reflected in Fair Value or Total Compensation	Total Equity Award Adjustments
2024	2,462,685	(2,957,353)	$—	(2,018,447)	$—	$—	(2,513,115)


Year	Average Reported Summary Compensation Table Total for Non-PEO NEOs^(a)	Average Reported Summary Compensation Table Value of Non-PEO NEO Equity Awards^(b)	Average Non-PEO NEO Adjusted Value of Equity Awards^(c)	Average Compensation Actually Paid to Non-PEO NEOs
2024	$3,067,934	(2,499,973)	(905,367)	(337,405)


Stock Options			2024
Expected Term (years)			2.06 - 9.25
Strike Price			$13.12 - $62.32
Volatility			63.27% - 78.03%
Dividend Yield			0.00% - 0.00%
Risk-Free Interest Rate			3.60% - 4.83%


			Annual Retainer
Board of Directors:
All non-employee members, except chairman			40,000
Audit Committee:
Members			10,000
Chairman			20,000
Compensation Committee:
Members			7,500
Chairman			15,000
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee:
Members			5,000
Chairman			15,000
Commercial Committee:
Members			7,500
Chairman			15,000
R&D Committee:
Members			7,500
Chairman			15,000


Director Name	Fees Earned or Paid in Cash ($)	Option Awards ($)⁽¹⁾	All Other Compensation ($)	Total $
Elisabeth Björk, M.D., Ph.D.⁽²⁾	56,936	359,990	—	416,926
Carsten Boess	69,477	359,990	—	429,467
Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D.⁽³⁾	14,260	654,991	—	669,251
Pedro Granadillo⁽²⁾	69,986	359,990	—	429,977
Gotham Makker, M.D.⁽²⁾	45,793	359,990	—	405,783
Fady Malik, M.D., Ph.D.	41,977	359,990	—	401,967
David Southwell	44,620	359,990	—	404,610
Naveen Yamalanchi⁽⁴⁾	50,557	359,990	—	410,547
Keith Woods⁽⁵⁾	53,954	359,990	—	413,944
Roderick Wong, M.D.⁽⁶⁾	—	409,981	—	409,981


Position			Target Value
Non-Employee Director			1x Annual Retainer
Chief Executive Officer			3x Annual Base Salary
Chief Financial Officer			1x Annual Base Salary
Other Executive Officer			1x Annual Base Salary


Name and address of beneficial owner	Number of Shares Beneficially Owned	Percent of Class
5% Stockholders
RTW Investments, LP⁽¹⁾ 40 10th Avenue, Floor 7 New York, NY 10014	18,188,457	17.0%
Wellington Management Group LLP⁽²⁾ 280 Congress Street Boston, MA 02210	13,995,177	13.1%
Blackrock, Inc.⁽³⁾ 55 East 52nd Street New York, NY 10055	5,930,178	5.6%
Maverick Capital, Ltd.⁽⁴⁾ 1900 N. Pearl Street, 20th Floor Dallas, TX 75201	5,547,175	5.2%
The Vanguard Group⁽⁵⁾ 100 Vanguard Blvd Malvern, PA 19355	5,447,565	5.1%
Named executive officers and directors
Gaurav Shah, M.D.⁽⁶⁾	3,209,364	3.0%
Aaron Ondrey⁽⁷⁾	42,676	*
Kinnari Patel, Pharm.D., M.B.A.⁽⁸⁾	1,594,733	1.5%
Jonathan Schwartz, M.D.⁽¹⁰⁾	686,568	*
Martin Wilson, J.D. ⁽¹¹⁾	224,773	*
John Militello, CPA⁽¹²⁾	271,518	*
Sarbani Chaudhuri	—	—


Plan Category	Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights	Weighted- average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights⁽¹⁾	Number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in column (a))
	(a)	(b)	(c)
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders⁽²⁾	17,458,896⁽³⁾	$16.19	3,192,205⁽⁴⁾
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders	—	—	—
Total	17,528,557	$16.19	3,192,205