Company: HCWB
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000950170-25-046724
Chunk: 133

Company: HCW Biologics Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 7
Chunk 133
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 each program.  Part of this selection will be to determine which TRBC molecules will be developed in-house and which are more appropriate to develop through business development transactions, such as out-licensing agreements.  

80 

Business Highlights

Business Development Transaction

On November 17, 2024, the Company entered an exclusive worldwide license agreement with WY Biotech Co., Ltd. (“WY Biotech”), a China-based company specializing in the early-stage development of recombinant protein drugs and gene/cell therapies, to develop and commercialize HCW11-006, one of the Company’s product candidates generated with our TRBC drug discovery platform, for therapeutic use (the “WY License Agreement”).  Key terms of the WY License Agreement include that WY Biotech has agreed to pay HCWB $7.0 million in an upfront payment. 

As the Company disclosed in the Form 8-K filed on March 19, 2025, the Company and WY Biotech agreed to amend the WY Biotech License Agreement due to a delay in WY Biotech coming to a definitive agreement with their designated contract development and manufacturing organization (“CDMO”).  Specifically, in order to accommodate the delay, the parties agreed to restructure the payment schedule for the $7.0 million upfront license fees, including delaying the initial $4.0 million portion thereof that was originally due on or about March 17, 2025, to reduce the performance milestones that the Company must complete in order to earn the full $7.0 million nonrefundable upfront payment in June 2025, and to provide that either party may terminate the Agreement if WY Biotech is not able to definitively engage its CDMO by June 2025.  Under the amended terms, the Company expects to fulfill our performance obligations and earn the full $7.0 million upfront fee in June 2025.  There were no other material changes to the WY Biotech License Agreement, which involves the grant to WY Biotech of an exclusive, world-wide license to use and apply HCW11-006 for in vivo applications.  See Exhibits 10.27 and 10.28 to this Annual Report on Form 10-K. 

The Company has now completed extensive preclinical studies that further support our belief in the potential for HCW11-006 for both an in vivo and ex vivo therapy.  The in vivo therapy is licensed by WY Biotech, however, the Company retained all