Company: HCWB
Filing Date: 2025-04-07
Form Type: S-1
Source: 0001193125-25-073723
Chunk: 67

Company: HCW Biologics Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-07
Form: S-1
Chunk 67
---
 these proceedings, we may incur substantial costs and the time and attention of our management and
scientific personnel could be diverted in pursuing these proceedings, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations. In addition, because of

41

the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure
during this type of litigation.

We may need to obtain licenses of third-party technology that may not be available to us or are available only on commercially unreasonable terms, and which may cause us to operate our business in a more costly or otherwise adverse manner that was not anticipated.

We own and are pursuing rights to the intellectual property, including patent applications relating to our immunotherapy platform technology
and our product candidates. In the future, we may be required to license technologies relating to our therapeutic research programs from additional third parties to further develop or commercialize our platform technology and product candidates. The
fusion components of our product candidates may have also been the subject of research by companies that could have filed patent applications on their specific construct and therapeutic methods. There can be no assurance any such patents will not be
asserted against us or that we will not need to seek licenses from such third parties. We may not be able to secure such licenses on acceptable terms, if at all, and any such litigation would be costly and time-consuming.

Should we be required to obtain licenses to any third-party technology, including any such patents required to manufacture, use, or sell our product
candidates or any products, if approved, the growth of our business will likely depend in part on our ability to acquire, in-license, maintain, or use these proprietary rights. The inability to obtain any
third-party license required to develop or commercialize any of our product candidates could cause us to abandon any related efforts, which could seriously harm our business and operations.

In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. We also may be unable to
license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights on terms that would allow us to make an appropriate return on our investment. Even if we are able to obtain a license, it may be non-exclusive,
thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us. If we are unable to successfully obtain a license to third-party intellectual property rights necessary for the development of a product candidate or program, we may have
to abandon development of that product candidate or program and our business and financial condition could