Company: HCWB
Filing Date: 2025-04-16
Form Type: 424B3
Source: 0001193125-25-082835
Chunk: 9

Company: HCW Biologics Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-16
Form: 424B3
Chunk 9
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, defense, and maintenance of which may be challenging, time-consuming and costly. Failure to defend, protect or enforce these rights adequately, and costs and 
 expenses associated with the same, could impact our financial condition and results of operations or otherwise harm our ability to compete and impair our business.                                                                               |

| • |     | We rely on third parties to manufacture our product candidates. Any failure by a third-party manufacturer to                                                                                                                                             
 produce acceptable drug substance for us or to obtain authorization from the FDA or comparable regulatory authorities may delay or impair our ability to initiate or complete our clinical trials, obtain regulatory approvals or commercialize approved 
 products.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |

| • |     | Our information technology systems, or those used by our third-party contractors or consultants, may fail or 
 suffer security breaches, which could adversely affect our business.                                         |

The Offering Pursuant to the ELOC Purchase Agreement, (1) on March 12, 2025, we issued 384,615 shares of our Common Stock to Square Gate as its Commitment Fee thereunder, and (2) upon the terms and subject to the conditions and limitations set forth therein, we have the right to direct Square Gate to purchase up to an aggregate of $40,000,000 of shares of our Common Stock over the 36-monthterm of the ELOC Purchase Agreement. We currently have reserved 40,000,000 shares of our authorized and unissued shares of Common Stock solely for the purpose of effecting purchases of the shares under the ELOC Purchase Agreement. Under the ELOC Purchase Agreement, we have the right to present Square Gate with a put notice (each, a “Put Notice”) directing Square Gate to purchase shares of our Common Stock in an amount per Put determined pursuant to the limitations in the ELOC Purchase Agreement, at a per-shareprice equal to 98% of the lowest VWAP during the three trading days following the Put Notice date. For more information, please see the section entitled “The ELOC Transaction.” Pursuant to the Purchase Warrant, Armistice may elect to purchase up to 6,717,000 shares of our Common Stock at a price of $1.03 per share at any time or times on or before November 20, 2029. The Purchase Warrant was issued to Armistice in a private placement concurrently with the issuance and sale to Armistice of 4,160,000 shares of our Common Stock and (y) pre-fundedwarrants to purchase up to 2,557