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): October 2, 2019

NextCure, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

(240) 399-4900

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):

o                 Written communication pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

o                 Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

o                 Pre-commencement communication pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

o                 Pre-commencement communication pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

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 x

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. o

Item 5.02              Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

On October 2, 2019, NextCure, Inc., a Delaware Corporation (the “Company”), announced that Timothy Mayer, Ph.D. has been promoted to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer of the Company.

Dr. Mayer, age 55, had served as the Company’s Senior Vice President, Corporate Development since December 2018 and previously served as its Vice President, Business Development from February 2016 to December 2018. Prior to joining the Company, Dr. Mayer held several positions at MacroGenics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of cancer, from 2004 to February 2016, including Senior Director, Intellectual Property from 2009 to February 2016. Prior to that, Dr. Mayer worked on biotechnology and pharmaceutical patent matters as a Technical Specialist at Banner & Witcoff, Ltd., an intellectual property law firm, from 2000 to 2004. Dr. Mayer received a B.S. in microbiology and a B.S. in biochemistry from California Polytechnic State University and a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine.

Item 7.01              Regulation FD Disclosure.

On October 2, 2019, the Company issued a press release announcing Dr. Mayer’s promotion. A copy of the press release is attached to this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 99.1.

Item 9.01              Financial Statements and Exhibits.

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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.

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Exhibit 99.1

NextCure Announces Promotion of Timothy Mayer, Ph.D., to

Chief Operating Officer

Beltsville, Md. — October 2, 2019 — NextCure, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXTC), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering and developing novel, first-in-class immunomedicines to treat cancer and other immune-related diseases, today announced the promotion of Timothy Mayer, Ph.D. from Senior Vice President, Corporate Development to Chief Operating Officer.

“I am delighted to make this announcement. Tim joined NextCure at our inception and has contributed significantly to major NextCure achievements, including our alliance with Eli Lilly & Company and our recently completed initial public offering. He has played a pivotal role on the executive management team leading corporate development, strategy, and business operations and we are confident he will continue to be instrumental in the company’s success,” said Michael Richman, NextCure’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “I look forward to continuing to work with Tim at this important and exciting time in our company’s history.”

Dr. Mayer has extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including with antibody therapeutics, small molecule pharmaceuticals and molecular biology research tools. Prior to joining NextCure, he served in several positions at MacroGenics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of cancer, where he oversaw all intellectual property matters, assisted with business development for various licensing transactions and helped facilitate MacroGenics’ initial public offering. Before MacroGenics, Dr. Mayer served in several positions at Banner & Witcoff, an intellectual property law firm, where he drafted and prosecuted biotech and pharmaceutical applications and conducted patentability and freedom-to-operate searches in all areas of biotechnology and small molecule chemistry. Dr. Mayer also worked on developing cloning systems while at Life Technologies and Invitrogen. He received his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Penn State University College of Medicine and B.S. degrees in Microbiology and Biochemistry from California Polytechnic State University.

About NextCure, Inc.

NextCure is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering and developing novel, first-in-class immunomedicines to treat cancer and other immune-related diseases. Through our proprietary FIND-IO™ platform, we study various immune cells to discover and understand targets and structural components of immune cells and their functional impact in order to develop immunomedicines. Our initial focus is to bring hope and new treatments to patients who do not respond to current cancer therapies, patients whose cancer progresses despite treatment and patients with cancer types not adequately addressed by available therapies. www.nextcure.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Words such as “expects,” “believes,” “intends,” “hope,” “forward,” “continue” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include, among others, statements about Dr. Mayer’s future with NextCure and NextCure’s plans, objectives and intentions with respect to the identification of immunomedicine targets and the discovery and development of immunomedicines. Forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statement. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others: our limited operating history and no products approved for commercial sale; our history of significant losses; our need to obtain additional financing; risks related to clinical development, marketing approval and commercialization; and the unproven approach to the discovery and development of product candidates based on our FIND-IO platform. More detailed information on these and additional factors that could affect NextCure’s actual results are described in NextCure’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including in the Risk Factors section and throughout NextCure’s Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on August 12, 2019. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. NextCure assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, even if expectations change.

Investor Inquiries

Timothy Mayer, Ph.D.

NextCure, Inc.

Chief Operating Officer

(240) 762-6486

IR@nextcure.com

Media Inquiries

Shai Biran, Ph.D.

MacDougall

(781) 235-3060

NextCure@macbiocom.com