Company: WHWK
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001628280-25-015269
Chunk: 82

Company: Whitehawk Therapeutics, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 82
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 licenses.

We rely on third-party license agreements pursuant to which we have non-exclusive and exclusive rights to technology that is incorporated into our development programs and product candidates. For example, under our License Agreement with WuXi Biologics, we have been granted worldwide development and commercialization rights to the ADC Therapies, which includes rights to use the linker-payloads that WuXi Biologics has licensed from Hangzhou DAC. These license agreements impose diligence, milestone payment, royalty payment and other obligations on us. 

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Termination of the License Agreement or reduction or elimination of our licensed rights may require us to negotiate new or reinstated licenses with less favorable terms or to cease all development and commercialization of our current product candidates. In addition, delay in appointing or finding a suitable replacement provider, if one exists, could make it difficult for us to operate our business for that period. If any such events were to occur, they could have a material adverse effect on our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Moreover, the growth of our business may depend in part on our ability to acquire, in-license or use additional third-party intellectual property rights. The licensing and acquisition of third-party intellectual property rights is a competitive area, and a number of more established companies are also pursuing strategies to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider attractive. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, cash resources and greater clinical development and commercialization capabilities. In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. Licenses to additional third-party intellectual property, technology and materials that may be required for the development and commercialization of our product candidates or technology may not be available at all or on commercially reasonable terms. In that event, we may be required to expend significant time and resources to redesign our product candidates or to develop or license replacement technology, all of which may not be feasible on a technical or commercial basis. If we are unable to do so, we may be unable to develop or commercialize our future product candidates or technologies, which could materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

Our current and any potential future licensors might conclude that we have materially breached our license agreements and might therefore terminate the relevant license agreements, thereby removing our ability to develop and commercialize products and technology covered by such license agreements. If any of our current or future in-bound license agreements are terminated, or if the underlying patents fail to provide