EXICURE INC

Compensation Overview

This section provides a discussion of the total compensation awarded to, earned by, or paid to, during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022: (1) the individuals who served as our principal executive officer during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, (2) our next two most highly compensated executive officers serving as of December 31, 2023 who earned more than $100,000 during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 (of which we had none), and (3) any individual who would otherwise be included in (2) above but for the fact that such individual was not serving as an executive officer of ours as of December 31, 2023. We refer to these individuals in this prospectus as our named executive officers. Our named executive officers for 2023 who appear in the Summary Compensation Table are:

•Paul Kang, our Chief Executive Officer;

•Matthias Schroff, our former Chief Executive Officer;

•Jung Sang (Michael) Kim, our former Chief Executive Officer;

•Elias Papadimas, our former Chief Financial Officer;

•Sarah Longoria, our former Chief Human Resource and Compliance Officer;

Summary Compensation Table

The following table provides a summary of compensation paid or accrued for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 to our named executive officers, amounts in dollars:

Employment Agreements

We had employment agreements with each of our named executive officers who were still serving in their positions at the end of 2023. These employment agreements are described below. Refer to the footnotes to the Summary Compensation Table above with respect to named executive officers who were no longer serving at the end of 2023.

Paul Kang. We and Mr. Kang entered into a Employment Agreement dated August 28, 2023. Under the terms of this Employment Agreement, Mr. Kang’s annual base salary was $150,000.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End

Mr. Kang does not have any outstanding equity awards, and none of our named executive officers who were not serving with the Company at the end of fiscal 2023 still had any outstanding equity awards.

Defined Contribution Plan

We sponsor a defined contribution plan intended to qualify under Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) as a 401(k) plan. Employees who are at least 21 years of age are generally eligible to participate and may enter the plan on the first day of any month following the employment start date. Participants may make pre-tax contributions or Roth 401(k) contributions up to the maximum limit established by the Code. Our 401(k) plan also has a “catch-up contribution” feature for employees aged 50 or older (including those who qualify as “highly compensated” employees) who can defer amounts over the statutory limit that applies to all other employees below age 50. Participant contributions are allocated to each participant’s individual account and are then invested in selected investment alternatives according to the participant’s directions. Participants are immediately and fully vested in their contributions. We provide matching contributions under the plan of up to 100% of the first 50% of the participant’s elective contributions.

Director Compensation

Under our director compensation policy, as amended, each of our directors is eligible to receive cash compensation for service on our Board of Directors and committees of our Board of Directors.

2023 Director Compensation

Cash Compensation

Following the closing of the Private Placement in February 2023, each director is entitled to an annual retainer of $20,000. None of our current directors have received any equity grants, and none of our prior directors received equity grants in 2023.

Director Compensation Table

The following table presents information regarding the compensation earned for service by our directors during the year ended December 31, 2023, amounts in dollars.