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HCW Biologics Doses First Participant At Its Clinical Study Evaluating HCW9302 In Patients With Alopecia Areata

Benzinga·11/18/2025 12:26:38
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HCW Biologics Inc. ("HCWB" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: HCWB), a U.S.-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative immunotherapies to extend healthspan by targeting the link between chronic inflammation and disease, today announced the first patient was dosed at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center for the Company-sponsored, multi-center first-in-human clinical trial to evaluate HCW9302 in patients with alopecia areata (NCT07049328). This marks a major milestone in the Company's clinical development program in autoimmune diseases.

HCW9302 is the Company's lead product candidate for its clinical program to develop treatments for autoimmune diseases and inflammatory conditions. It is a subcutaneously injectable, first-in-kind interleukin-2 ("IL-2") fusion molecule constructed using the Company's legacy TOBI™ platform technology. IL-2, the active component of HCW9302, is the cytokine in humans and other vertebrates responsible for maintaining the proper numbers and functions of regulatory T ("Treg") cells in the body. Treg cells control excessive inflammation caused by other immune cells, which is the etiology of autoimmune diseases. The breakthrough discovery of the critical function of Treg cells by Drs. Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi was recently acknowledged with the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their groundbreaking work which was the discovery that Treg cells are the immune system's security guards which prevent immune cells from attacking our own body.