EXICURE, INC.

On December 13, 2021, Mark Colwell filed a putative securities class action lawsuit against the Company, David A. Giljohann and Brian C. Bock in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, captioned Colwell v. Exicure, Inc. et al., Case No. 1:21-cv-06637. On February 4, 2021, plaintiff filed an amended putative securities class action complaint. On March 20, 2023, the court entered an order appointing James Mathew as lead plaintiff and Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP as lead counsel in the action pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. On May 26, 2023, lead plaintiff filed a second amended complaint against the Company, Dr. Giljohann, Mr. Bock, and Grant Corbett. The second amended complaint alleges that Dr. Giljohann, Mr. Bock, and Dr. Corbett made materially false and/or misleading statements related to the Company’s clinical programs purportedly causing losses to investors who acquired Company securities between January 7, 2021 and December 10, 2021. The second amended complaint does not quantify any alleged damages but, in addition to attorneys’ fees and costs, lead plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of himself and others who acquired the

Company’s stock during the putative class period at allegedly inflated prices and purportedly suffered financial harm as a result. On October 8, 2024, the court granted preliminary approval of the settlement in the securities class action and set a schedule for final approval proceedings, including a final approval hearing on January 13, 2025. On January 13, 2025, the court entered final judgment approving the settlement.

The settlement described above will be fully covered by insurance. However, the settlement will include a reservation of rights by the insurers against the Company for the unsatisfied portion of its self-insured retainer. As a result, the Company recorded an accrual as of September 30, 2024 for the amount of the unsatisfied retainer, approximately $1.14 million.

In March and April 2022, three different stockholders filed separate shareholder derivative lawsuits on behalf of the Company against Dr. Giljohann and Mr. Bock, Jeffrey L. Cleland, Elizabeth Garofalo, Bosun Hau, Bali Muralidhar, Andrew Sassine, Matthias Schroff, James Sulat and Timothy Walbert. The cases in the ordered filed are captioned Puri v. Giljohann, et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-01083; Sim v. Giljohann, et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-01217; and Stourbridge Investments LLC v. Exicure, Inc. et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-00526. Complaints in these cases (collectively, the “Derivative Complaints”) assert, among other things, that the Company included false or misleading statements in its proxy statement for its 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, also alleging certain breaches of fiduciary duties. The Derivative Complaints seek contribution from Dr. Giljohann and Mr. Bock under federal securities laws. The Puri and Stourbridge complaints further assert for a variety of related state law claims, including unjust enrichment, abuse of control, gross mismanagement, and corporate waste. Plaintiffs seek restitution for damages to the Company, attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses, as well stockholder adoption of certain board oversight measures.

On March 18, 2022, James McNabb, through counsel, sent a written demand to the Company (the “Demand Letter”) demanding that the Board of Directors investigate certain allegations and commence proceedings on the Company’s behalf against certain of the Company’s current officers and directors for alleged breaches of fiduciary duties and corporate waste. The Derivative Complaints and Demand Letter are currently stayed, and the Company is engaged in settlement discussions with plaintiffs’ counsel regarding these matters.

On October 3, 2023, a former employee filed a complaint against the Company and its executives related to the former employee’s separation from the Company in August. The parties proceeded with paper discovery and this matter did not settle at an in-person settlement conference on July 17, 2024. As a result, we are in the discovery phase of this litigation. The parties exchanged discovery and a status conference was held on February 11, 2025, wherein opposing counsel asserted alleged various discovery deficiencies. The parties are working through these alleged discovery deficiencies and anticipate deposing the plaintiff as well as witnesses on behalf of the Company and the individual defendants themselves in the coming months.

We may also be a party to litigation and subject to claims incident to the ordinary course of business. Although the results of litigation and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, we currently believe that the final outcome of these ordinary course matters will not have a material adverse effect on our business. Regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors.