Whitehawk Therapeutics Presents Real-World Analyses Supporting PTK7 as a Durable ADC Target in EGFR Wild-Type Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer at WCLC 2026

PTK7 Expression Remained Stable Following Standard-of-Care Therapies, Supporting Its Relevance as a Target in Second- or Later-Line EGFR Wild-Type Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer at WCLC 2026 Findings Reinforce the Scientific Rationale for HWK-007, Whitehawk's Next-Generation PTK7-Directed ADC Currently in Phase 1 Development MORRISTOWN, N.J. , Sept. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Whitehawk Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: WHWK ), a clinical-stage oncology therapeutics company applying advanced technologies to established tumor biology to efficiently develop antibody drug conjugate (ADC) cancer treatments, today announced the presentation of two real-world analyses supporting protein tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7) as a durable and clinically relevant ADC target in patients with pretreated, EGFR wild-type non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The data will be presented at the IASLC 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, taking place September 12-15, 2026, in Seoul, Republic of Korea. In tumor samples from patients with EGFR wild-type lung adenocarcinoma, PTK7 expression remained largely stable following standard-of-care (SoC) treatments, including chemotherapy and immunotherapy, and demonstrated less treatment associated variation than several other ADC targets in late-stage development. PTK7 expression was also generally consistent regardless of the presence or absence of other actionable genomic alterations (AGA). These findings indicate PTK7 remains available for targeted ADCs for patients that have progressed through multiple lines of SoC therapy and across clinically relevant subgroups. A separate analysis of patients with advanced EGFR wild-type lung adenocarcinoma found that real-world overall survival was not impacted based on PTK7-expression, supporting PTK7 as a target-engagement biomarker for ADC payload delivery independent of prognosis in NSCLC. "The development strategy for our PTK7-directed ADC, HWK-007, is grounded in understanding not only where PTK7 is expressed, but also how that expression behaves in a real-world treatment setting," said Margaret Dugan, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Whitehawk Therapeutics. "The stability of PTK7 expression after standard of care therapies, in particular compared to other therapies in late-stage development, add important translational context as we evaluate HWK-007 in patients with EGFR wild-type NSCLC." Key Findings: Durable and Treatment-Agnostic PTK7 Expression in EGFR Wild-Type Lung Adenocarcinoma Supports Targeted ADC Development PTK7 expression remained largely stable following standard-of-care immunotherapy, chemotherapy, chemoimmunotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment, suggesting that the target may remain available for PTK7-directed therapy after prior treatment. Stable PTK7 expression is also observed in paired tumor samples. PTK7 demonstrated less treatment-associated variation than several late-stage ADC targets, including MET, PD-L1 and ITGB6. PTK7 expression was generally consistent across tumors with or without other AGA, including KRAS G12C, ALK and MET alterations, suggesting relevance of PTK7 as an ADC target across both AGA+ and AGA- NSCLC subgroups. Association Between PTK7 Expression and Real-World Survival in Pretreated Patients With EGFR Wild-Type Lung Adenocarcinoma PTK7 expression was not independently associated with real-world overall survival or progression-free survival in patients with advanced EGFR wild-type lung adenocarcinoma receiving second- or later-line therapy, supporting PTK7 as a target-engagement biomarker rather than a marker of prognosis. Clinical outcomes were driven primarily by established prognostic factors, including Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status and extent of prior therapy. PTK7-low tumors were enriched for KEAP1 and STK11 alterations, suggesting biological heterogeneity of EGFR wild-type NSCLC. "Understanding whether a therapeutic target remains present after prior treatment i...