How Rocket Pharma quietly became one of gene therapy's high flyers

The term moonshot is reserved for ventures with long-shot goals. Yet it could also describe Rocket Pharmaceuticals, a gene therapy developer with an uncommon strategy and sky-high ambitions.

Since its founding in late 2015 by former Novartis and Eli Lilly veterans, Rocket has followed a less traditional path. The company started in New York, rather than the life sciences hubs of Boston and San Francisco, and went public in an unconventional way. It's also simultaneously developing gene therapies using two different deliver technologies, a more unusual approach.