Cue Biopharma Inc — Current Report (Form 8-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): April 1, 2026

Cue Biopharma, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

(617) 949-2680

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§ 230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§ 240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

On April 1, 2026, Cue Biopharma, Inc. (the “Company”) received notice from Boehringer Ingelheim that Boehringer Ingelheim had approved selection of its first compound for lead optimization under the Collaboration and License Agreement entered into with Boehringer Ingelheim on April 10, 2025 for the research, development and commercialization of differentiated B cell depletion molecules, including the Company’s CUE-501 product candidate. This preclinical milestone event triggers a $7.5 million payment to the Company, which is expected to be received in May 2026.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This Current Report on Form 8-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those regarding: the timing of a preclinical milestone payment expected to be received by the Company. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe the Company’s future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “goal,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “strategy,” “future,” “vision,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” “likely” or other comparable terms, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.

Any forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in, or implied by, such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the Company’s limited operating history, limited cash and a history of losses; the Company’s ability to achieve profitability; the Company’s ability to obtain adequate financing to fund its business operations in the future; the Company’s ability to successfully remediate its current “going concern” determination that it does not have sufficient capital on hand to continue operations beyond the next twelve months; the Company’s reliance on licensors, collaborators, contract research organizations, suppliers and other business partners; potential setbacks in its research and development efforts including negative or inconclusive results from its preclinical studies or clinical trials; and the Company’s ability to replicate in later clinical trials positive results found in preclinical studies and early-stage clinical trials of its product candidates. For a discussion of other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause the Company’s actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the “Risk Factors” section in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this Current Report on Form 8-K represent the Company’s views as of the date hereof and should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company’s views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.