Company: HCWB
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000950170-25-046724
Chunk: 18

Company: HCW Biologics Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 18
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 States. This includes both deceased and living donors.  Graft rejection in organ transplantation refers to the phenomenon where the recipient's immune system identifies the transplanted organ as foreign tissue and attacks it, leading to damage and potential failure of the transplanted organ, essentially rejecting it from the body.  This is a major complication following organ transplantation and occurs due to differences in the recipient's immune system compared to the donor's tissue antigens.  Chronic transplant rejection may develop months or years after organ or tissue transplantation. This condition involves chronic inflammation and immune responses against the transplanted graft, leading to complications and symptoms that vary depending on the transplanted organ.  

Neurodegenerative Diseases

The Company’s preclinical work in neurodegenerative diseases to date has focused on Alzheimer’s Disease.  According to the Alzheimer’s Association, for the United States, health care and long-term care costs for people living with dementia are projected to reach $360 billion in 2024 and nearly $1 trillion in 2050.  

Further statistics from the Alzheimer’s Association offer a partial explanation for these staggering costs.  Again, these are statistics just for the United States.  

•An estimated 6.9 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's in 2024. Seventy-three percent are age 75 or older.

•Almost two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer's are women.

•About 1 in 9 people aged 65 and older (10.9%) has Alzheimer's.

•Alzheimer's disease was the fifth-leading cause of death among people aged 65 and older in 2021.  

•By 2050, the number of Americans with Alzheimer’s is projected to rise to nearly 13 million.

Cancer Indications

Class II TRBC Molecules:  Second-Generation Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor

The Company is currently conducting preclinical studies in relevant animal models to identify the strongest candidate in the group of TRBC Molecules classified as second-generation immune checkpoint inhibitors.  

Several immune checkpoint inhibitors have been approved for the treatment of a limited number of cancer indications. While immune checkpoint inhibitors are considered a breakthrough therapy that has revolutionized the way cancer is treated, the response rates among patients remains stubbornly low in many of the most common cancer indications.  There are several clinical studies underway for therapeutics to be used in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors to broaden the number of indications and improve response rates. Our focused indications are pancreatic and ovarian cancer. 

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