Morristown, N.J. – September 16, 2026 -- Whitehawk Therapeutics (Nasdaq: WHWK) presented real-world data at the IASLC 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer in Seoul showing that PTK7 expression remains stable in pretreated, EGFR wild-type non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), reinforcing the target biology behind its Phase 1 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) HWK-007.
PTK7 expression showed less variation than rival ADC targets after standard-of-care therapy
In tumor samples from patients with EGFR wild-type lung adenocarcinoma, PTK7 expression stayed largely consistent following chemotherapy, immunotherapy, chemoimmunotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment, including in paired tumor samples. The target showed less treatment-associated variation than MET, PD-L1 and ITGB6, three targets used in late-stage ADC development. Expression also held steady regardless of the presence of other actionable genomic alterations such as KRAS G12C, ALK and MET mutations, indicating relevance across both mutation-positive and mutation-negative NSCLC subgroups.
PTK7 expression did not affect real-world survival outcomes in a separate analysis
A second study of patients with advanced EGFR wild-type lung adenocarcinoma found that PTK7 expression was not independently associated with real-world overall survival or progression-free survival in second- or later-line therapy. Outcomes were instead driven by established prognostic factors, including Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status and extent of prior treatment. PTK7-low tumors were enriched for KEAP1 and STK11 alterations, pointing to underlying biological heterogeneity within EGFR wild-type NSCLC.
Findings support PTK7 as a target-engagement biomarker independent of prognosis
Margaret Dugan, Chief Medical Officer of Whitehawk Therapeutics, said the development strategy for HWK-007 rests on understanding not just where PTK7 is expressed but how that expression behaves in a real-world treatment setting, adding that the target's stability compared with other late-stage ADC targets provides translational context for evaluating HWK-007 in EGFR wild-type NSCLC. Aaron E. Lisberg, Associate Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, presented the treatment-agnostic expression data as poster P2.241, while Grace Dy of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center presented the survival analysis as poster P2.147, both on September 14, 2026.
HWK-007 is advancing through Phase 1 testing across three tumor types
HWK-007, a PTK7-directed ADC, is being evaluated in an ongoing Phase 1 trial (NCT07444814) enrolling patients with non-squamous, EGFR wild-type NSCLC, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer. The analyses were conducted through Whitehawk's previously announced collaboration with Tempus AI.