HCW Biologics Inc.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

As of December 31, 2025, our management, with participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, performed an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a – 15(e) under the Exchange Act). Based on that evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective at the reasonable assurance level. A material weakness in the internal control over financial reporting (described below) was identified related to impairment assessment of long-lived assets.

The term “disclosure controls and procedures,” as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, means controls and other procedures of a company that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act are recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and our management necessarily applies its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures.

Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act). Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and our principal financial officer, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States.

As of December 31, 2025, our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting using the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control-Integrated Framework. Based on this assessment, a material weakness over financial reporting was identified (described below). A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that a reasonable possibility exists that a material misstatement of our annual or condensed interim financial statements would not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

A material weakness was identified related to management’s assessment of long-lived assets for impairment. This material weakness resulted in an adjustment of $1.5 million to the Company's consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025. Additionally, this material weakness could result in misstatements of long-lived assets (property, plant and equipment) or disclosures that would result in a material misstatement to the annual or interim consolidated financial statements that would not be prevented or detected.

Because of this material weakness, management concluded that the Company did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2025.

Remediation Plans for Material Weakness in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We are committed to establishing and maintaining a stronger internal control environment. In response to the identified material weakness above, the Company’s Board of Directors and its Audit Committee are conducting an internal investigation to determine the root cause of the material weakness, with advice from outside advisors. Upon conclusion of this investigation, they will work with management to evaluate internal controls over financial reporting based on criteria set forth in “Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013)” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Remediation plan will include obtaining a current appraisal at least once a year in preparation for the Annual Report, and more often if the market appears to be weakening or other triggers for an indication of impairment have occurred. Management intends to establish procedures to ensure proper monitoring of indicators of impairment such as a significant market price decrease, adverse changes in physical condition/usage, legal factors, or current-period operating losses, for each reporting period.

Inherent Limitations of Internal Controls

Our internal control system was designed to, in general, provide reasonable assurance to our company’s management and board regarding the preparation and fair presentation of published financial statements, but because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in the Company’s internal control over the financial reporting during the fourth quarter of 2025 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Attestation Report of the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

This Annual Report does not include an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm. For as long as we remain an “emerging growth company” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, we intend to take advantage of the exemption permitting us not to comply with the requirement that our independent registered public accounting firm provide an attestation on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.