January 12, 2021 -- Rocket Pharmaceuticals has announced the buildout for a new site in Cranbury, NJ, that will support Rocket's pipeline for lentivirus and adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapies.
The 103,720-sq-ft facility will also serve as a new headquarters for Rocket as well as a location for research and development (R&D) and chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) operation. It also has space for potential future expansion and commercialization.
Roughly half of the space is earmarked for AAV current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) production, while the other half features state-of-the-art R&D labs to support CMC development. Dr. Gaurav Shah, the president and CEO of Rocket, said the facility is crucial to fulfilling the company's mission to bring five curative therapies to rare disease patients in the next four years.
Rocket intends to begin the first cGMP production at the facility in 2021. The company also said it plans to use the facility for a planned study evaluating the company's first AAV-based gene therapy for the treatment of Danon Disease.