Whitehawk data support PTK7 target for HWK-007
- Whitehawk Therapeutics (NASDAQ:WHWK) reported real-world analyses showing PTK7 expression remained largely stable after standard treatments in EGFR wild-type lung adenocarcinoma.
- PTK7 showed less treatment-associated variation than ADC targets including MET, PD-L1, and ITGB6 and remained consistent across different genomic backgrounds.
- Whitehawk said the findings reinforce its rationale for developing PTK7-directed ADC HWK-007, which is currently in Phase 1 testing.
Whitehawk Therapeutics (NASDAQ:WHWK) reported WCLC 2026 real-world analyses supporting protein tyrosine kinase 7, or PTK7, as a potential antibody-drug conjugate target in pretreated EGFR wild-type non-small cell lung cancer.
In EGFR wild-type lung adenocarcinoma, PTK7 expression remained largely stable following chemotherapy, immunotherapy, chemoimmunotherapy, and tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment.
The analyses found PTK7 showed less treatment-associated variation than several late-stage ADC targets, including MET, PD-L1, and ITGB6.
PTK7 expression was also consistent in tumors with and without other actionable genomic alterations, indicating that its expression was not limited to a specific genomic subgroup in the analyzed population.
A separate analysis found PTK7 expression was not independently associated with real-world overall survival or progression-free survival.
Whitehawk said the survival findings support evaluating PTK7 as a target-engagement biomarker rather than using its expression as an independent prognostic marker.
The company said the WCLC 2026 analyses strengthen the rationale for HWK-007, its PTK7-directed antibody-drug conjugate currently undergoing Phase 1 clinical development.
