On September 13, 2026 Whitehawk Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: WHWK), a clinical-stage oncology therapeutics company applying advanced technologies to established tumor biology to efficiently develop improved antibody drug conjugate (ADC) cancer treatments, reported 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.

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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 is particularly important in advanced lung cancer, where patients often receive multiple lines of therapy," said Aaron E. Lisberg, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "The stability of PTK7 expression across standard treatments and clinically relevant molecular subgroups supports further investigation of PTK7-directed ADCs in patients with previously treated EGFR wild-type lung adenocarcinoma."

Poster Presentation Details:

Title: Durable and Treatment-Agnostic PTK7 Expression in EGFR Wild-Type Lung Adenocarcinoma Supports Targeted ADC Development
Poster: P2.241
Presenter: Aaron E. Lisberg, MD, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Date & Time: Monday, September 14, 2026, at 10:30 AM KST

Title: Association Between PTK7 Expression and Real-World Survival in Pretreated Patients With EGFR Wild-Type Lung Adenocarcinoma
Poster: P2.147
Presenter: Grace Dy, MD, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USA
Date & Time: Monday, September 14, 2026, at 10:30 AM KST

HWK‑007 is PTK7-directed, next-generation ADC being evaluated in an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with non-squamous, EGFR wild-type NSCLC, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer (NCT07444814).

These analyses were conducted as part of a previously announced collaboration between Whitehawk and Tempus AI. The posters will be accessible on the Presentations page of the Investors & News section of the Company’s website at www.whitehawktx.com.

(Press release, Whitehawk Therapeutics, SEP 13, 2026, View Source [SID1234670779])