Latham & Watkins Advises on Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ Growth Facility

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: RCKT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company, entered into a senior secured term loan facility of up to US$150 million led by Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE: HTGC). The financing includes an initial US$35 million funded tranche, additional committed and milestone-based term loan tranches, and up to US$50 million of additional financing subject to lender approval. The term loans mature in October 2030, with a potential extension to October 2031 upon achievement of the specified milestone, and are secured by substantially all of the company’s assets, including its intellectual property. In connection with the financing, Rocket Pharmaceuticals issued warrants to the lenders to purchase up to 1,755,853 shares of its common stock at an exercise price of US$2.99 per share, with exercisability tied to the amount funded under the facility.

Latham & Watkins LLP represents Hercules Capital in the transaction with a finance team led by partners Hai Pham and Haim Zaltzman, with associates Jake Ibrahim and Omar Adel. Advice was also provided on tax matters by partner Eric Cho; on healthcare and data privacy matters by partners Heather Deixler and Jennifer Yoo; on convertibles matters by partners Eric Rice and Reza Mojtabaee-Zamani, with associate Robertson Dorsett; and on corporate matters by partner Drew Capurro, with associate Gregory Van Buiten.