On April 2, ^99mTc-3PRGD2, the world's first innovative radiopharmaceutical targeting integrins developed by the research team led by Professor Wang Fan of Peking University, was officially approved for marketing. This new drug addresses the bottlenecks in applying nuclear medicine SPECT (Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography) imaging technology to tumor diagnosis, staging and therapeutic response monitoring. It is China's first domestically developed Class 1 innovative radiopharmaceutical, as well as the world’s first broad-spectrum tumor imaging agent for SPECT diagnostic imaging. Its significance goes far beyond a new nuclear medicine drug. Crucially, it breaks the nearly 30-year-long dominance of the United States in PET (Positron Emission Tomography) imaging for nuclear medicine tumor diagnosis. This breakthrough advances the field of nuclear medicine, places China at the international forefront in SPECT pharmaceuticals, and lays the foundation for China's independent development model in nuclear medicine.

The clinical trial approval issued by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) states that “this product is a drug with a brand-new mechanism and target.” Results from Phase III clinical trials show that in differentiating benign and malignant pulmonary lesions, there is no statistical difference between ^99mTc-3PRGD2 SPECT/CT and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT. However, in evaluating lymph node metastasis in lung cancer, the former demonstrates significantly higher specificity and accuracy than the latter. It corrects 59% of false-positive lymph node metastasis results from ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT imaging, effectively improving the accuracy of tumor diagnosis and staging, and providing patients with more precise diagnosis and treatment plans. Meanwhile, SPECT imaging technology is easier to popularize, enabling broader benefits for the general public.

2026 marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of nuclear medicine in China. The original breakthrough achieved by PKU Medicine in the field of nuclear medicine, as an important achievement in the opening year of China's 15th Five-Year Plan, has presented a significant gift for this historic milestone.

Written by: Wu Zhaoxia

Edited by: LiuXin

Source: Department of Publicity, PKUHSC