Chinese medical bodies name Technegas® preferred ventilation agent
Seven leading Chinese medical bodies have jointly published an expert consensus recommending Technegas® as the preferred ventilation agent for lung imaging in pulmonary embolism (PE), according to an ASX announcement from Cyclopharm (ASX: CYC) dated 7 October 2026. The recommendation was agreed unanimously by working group members.
The consensus, Expert consensus on the operational protocol for radionuclide pulmonary ventilation/perfusion scintigraphy of pulmonary thromboembolism, appears in the October 2026 issue of the Chinese Journal of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, a peer-reviewed journal of the Chinese Medical Association.
The first of its ten recommendations is direct:
Consensus recommendation 1
“For ventilation imaging, 99m Tc-Technegas is recommended as the preferred radiopharmaceutical.”
The alternative agent, DTPA aerosol, is to be used only if Technegas® is unavailable. For investors, the development is an independent clinical endorsement in a major market where, according to the company, the Technegas® footprint already extends to most provinces across China.
The consensus followed a survey of nuclear medicine departments across multiple Chinese hospitals. The survey found that practice varied in how lung scans were ordered and that interpretation depended heavily on specialist expertise, so the consensus aims to standardise how the scan is performed and reported across China.
A multidisciplinary endorsement
The consensus was led by the Chinese Thoracic Society of the Chinese Medical Association. It was issued jointly with six other bodies:
- Chinese Association of Chest Physicians
- National Collaborative Group for Prevention and Treatment of Pulmonary Embolism and Pulmonary Vascular Diseases
- Expert Committee of the National Project of Standardized Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension
- Expert Committee of Pulmonary Embolism and Pulmonary Vascular Diseases of the National Center for Respiratory Medicine
- Cardiopulmonary Vascular Group of the Nuclear Medicine Branch, Beijing Medical Association
- Nuclear Medicine Physicians Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association
The company noted that PE is diagnosed and managed by respiratory physicians, emergency and critical care physicians, cardiologists, radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians. Demand for a lung scan begins with the referring physician, and hospital adoption decisions are made by committees drawn from all of these disciplines.
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A global consensus in under three months
According to Cyclopharm, the clinical leadership of the world’s major healthcare systems has independently arrived at the same position in less than three months. The positions were developed by different societies, under different processes, for different healthcare systems.
Departing from the usual brand-neutral approach, both name Technegas® as the agent.
The updated US lung imaging guidelines were the first revision of the American ventilation standard in 14 years, and they set the template that the Chinese consensus now echoes in naming a specific agent.
| Region | Date | Position |
| United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand (SNMMI, EANM, ACNM and ANZSNM) | July 2026 | Technegas® “generally preferred when available” |
| China (Chinese Thoracic Society and six partner bodies) | October 2026 | Technegas® “recommended as the preferred radiopharmaceutical”, with 100% consensus |
James McBrayer, Cyclopharm’s Managing Director and CEO, commented on the alignment between the two positions.
James McBrayer, Managing Director and CEO
“…PE is a multidisciplinary disease. When the physicians who order the scan and the physicians who perform it agree, across four continents, that is no longer a regional preference. It is a global standard of care, and it is written in the profession’s own words, not ours.”
What lung V/Q imaging is and why it matters
Pulmonary embolism is a blood clot in the arteries of the lung. Ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) scanning is an imaging approach to assess it: the ventilation part shows airflow in the lungs, while the perfusion part shows blood flow.
Technegas® is described by the company as a structured ultra-fine dispersion of radioactive labelled carbon, produced using Technetium-99m. The patient inhales the gas-like substance, which allows imaging under a gamma or single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) camera.
The choice of ventilation agent matters because guideline preference can influence which agent clinicians order and which hospitals adopt. The announcement states that demand begins with the referring physician and that adoption decisions rest with multidisciplinary committees.
Beyond the initial diagnosis
Consistent with the July guidelines and Cyclopharm’s Beyond PE strategy, the consensus recognises lung V/Q imaging for more than diagnosis. The recognised uses are:
- Screening
- Follow-up
- Assessing response to treatment in PE and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), including after balloon pulmonary angioplasty and pulmonary endarterectomy
- A V/Q protocol for pregnant women with suspected PE
China’s expanding nuclear medicine market
The consensus comes as nuclear medicine in China is expanding rapidly, driven in part by advances in theranostics. Figures cited in the announcement include the Chinese Society of Nuclear Medicine’s 2024 national survey:
- 1,237 nuclear medicine departments, of which 787 offer SPECT imaging, the technique used for Technegas® lung scans
- More than 2.7 million SPECT scans performed in 2023
- Since 2019, PET installations up 81%, PET/CT examinations up 63% and the nuclear medicine workforce up 25%
Under the Government’s Medical Isotope Development Plan (2021–2035), it is expected that China will roughly double the scale of nuclear medicine by 2035, extending departments to all high-grade hospitals and to every county.
A sizeable SPECT installed base is relevant to the potential Technegas® opportunity in China. The announcement does not disclose revenue, sales or regulatory-status information for the market, and no future timelines are provided.
Cyclopharm’s record revenue of $32.3M in 2025, alongside a US installation target of 250-300 sites by the second half of 2026, frames the commercial backdrop against which the Chinese opportunity will be judged.
The announcement positions the consensus as extending clinical credibility for Technegas® across the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and China.
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