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): June 24, 2020

NantKwest, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

3530 John Hopkins Court

San Diego, California 92121

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

(858) 633-0300

(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 June 24, 2020, NantKwest, Inc. (the “Company”) entered into an underwriting agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) with Piper Sandler & Co., as representative of the several underwriters named therein (collectively, the “Underwriters”), relating to the issuance and sale of an aggregate of 7,410,000 shares of common stock of the Company (the “Underwritten Shares”). The price to the public in the offering is $9.50 per share and the Underwriters have agreed to purchase 3,700,000 of the shares of common stock from the Company pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement at a price of $8.93 per share. As part of the offering, the Company’s chairman, chief executive officer and principal stockholder, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong is purchasing an aggregate of 3,710,000 shares of the Company’s common stock (the “Affiliated Shares”), which Affiliated Shares are included in the total number of Underwritten Shares. The price to Dr. Soon-Shiong in the offering is $12.12 per share, which price per share is equal to the “market value” of the Company’s common stock immediately preceding the entry into the Underwriting Agreement in accordance with Nasdaq rules. The Underwriters have agreed to purchase the Affiliated Shares from the Company pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement at a price of $11.8776 per share.

The net proceeds to the Company from this offering are expected to be approximately $76.4 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses. The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering for clinical development, manufacturing, upgrades to its facilities and equipment, and for working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes. The Company has granted the Underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,111,500 shares of common stock (together with the Underwritten Shares, the “Shares”) at the public offering price of $9.50 per share. The closing of the offering is expected to occur on or about June 29, 2020, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

The offering is being made pursuant to the Company’s effective registration statement on Form S-3 (Registration Statement No. 333-233434) (the “Registration Statement”) previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a related prospectus included in the Registration Statement, as supplemented by a preliminary prospectus supplement dated June 24, 2020 and a final prospectus supplement dated June 24, 2020.

The Underwriting Agreement contains customary representations, warranties and agreements by the Company, customary conditions to closing, indemnification obligations of the Company and the Underwriters, including for liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, other obligations of the parties and termination provisions. The representations, warranties and covenants contained in the Underwriting Agreement were made only for purposes of such agreement and as of specific dates, were solely for the benefit of the parties to such agreement, and may be subject to limitations agreed upon by the contracting parties. In addition, pursuant to the terms of the Underwriting Agreement, certain officers and directors of the Company and their affiliated entities have entered into “lock-up” agreements with the Underwriters in substantially the form included as Exhibit A to the Underwriting Agreement, which generally prohibit the sale, transfer or other disposition of securities of the Company for a 90-day period, subject to certain exceptions.

The foregoing description of the Underwriting Agreement is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Underwriting Agreement, a copy of which is filed herewith as Exhibit 1.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference. A copy of the opinion of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional Corporation, relating to the legality of the issuance and sale of the Shares in the offering is filed as Exhibit 5.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

(d) Exhibits.

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.

Date: June 25, 2020