CYCLOPHARM LTD (ASX:CYC) - Why Lung Imaging Guidelines Are Shifting Towards Technegas Artwork

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CYCLOPHARM LTD (ASX:CYC) - Why Lung Imaging Guidelines Are Shifting Towards Technegas

October 14, 2026 • Andrew Musgrave

0:00 | 12:52

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ASX Investment Opportunity - Cyclopharm Ltd (ASX:CYC)

China’s leading medical bodies have now named Technegas the preferred ventilation agent for pulmonary embolism imaging, and that single line has big implications. We sit down with Cyclopharm Managing Director and CEO James McBrayer to unpack what’s driving the sudden global alignment of clinical guidelines across the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and China and why it’s rare for medical guidance to call out a brand by name.

We start with the fundamentals of Technegas lung imaging: how a few breaths can produce a clear map of pulmonary ventilation, and why image quality and stability matter even more as hospitals move to SPECT and 3D workflows. James also walks us through the patient safety angle, including guideline commentary on radiation dose versus CT pulmonary angiography, and why evidence based practice is pushing clinicians towards a consistent “standard of care”.

From there, we dig into the business and ASX investor lens: the razor blade model of recurring consumable revenue, the acceleration in US sites after FDA approval, and how network contracts and reference hospitals drive scalable rollout. We also cover delayed sites tied to funding and facility timelines, plus the “Beyond PE” growth strategy that includes CTEPH, COPD, asthma, and pre and post surgical lung assessment.

Finally, we look at how AI is reshaping lung imaging by combining CT anatomy with functional ventilation data, turning scans into measurable regional lung performance that clinicians can track over time. Subscribe for more ASX Briefs, share this episode with a mate, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

Andrew Musgrave

Welcome again to ASX Briefs, and today I'm joined by James McBrayer, the Managing Director and CEO of Cyclopharm. Cycloharm's Technegas lung imaging technology has just been named the preferred ventilation agent by China's leading medical bodies, following new US, European and ANZ guidelines in July.

James, thanks for joining me today and welcome to the ASX Briefs Podcast.

James McBrayer

Thanks, Andrew.

Andrew Musgrave

Now, James, before we discuss recent developments, can you just provide a brief overview of Cyclopharm?

James McBrayer

Sure. Cyclopharm's an Australian radio pharmaceutical company, and our core product is Technegas. Technegas is a functional lung imaging agent. A patient breathes in a few breaths of Technegas, and a nuclear medicine camera then shows how oxygen is delivered throughout the lung. Technegas has been used in more than five million patients, and it's backed over 230 published papers and sold in 67 countries around the world. It's historically been used to diagnose pulmonary embolism, which is a blood clot in the lung. However, with the advancements we've seen in technology to include more recently AI, we're seeing an expansion of use to include pulmonary hypertension, asthma, and COPD. Our business model is simple. Once a Technegas system is installed in a hospital and every patient scan uses a single consumable, it's a razor blade model. That recurring consumable revenue carries very high margins. And our big growth market today is certainly the United States, where we received FDA approval at the end of 23.

Andrew Musgrave

Now, James, seven of China's leading medical bodies led by the Chinese Thoracic Society jointly published an expert consensus naming Technegas as the preferred ventilation agent for lung imagery in pulmonary embolism. Why is this such an important moment for Cyclopharm?

James McBrayer

Well, Andrew, it matters for three primary reasons. First, it was unambiguous. Technegas is the very first of the consensus's ten recommendations agreed by every member of the working group. The alternative agent is only to be used when Technegas isn't available. The second is it's multidisciplinary. It's led by respiratory physicians, the doctors who suspect the clot or order the scan and treat the patient, working alongside their nuclear medicine colleagues. Demand for a lung scan starts with a referring doctor, so having them endorse Technegas is powerful. And third, Andrew, it's independent. China surveyed its own hospitals, drew its own clinical experience, and reached the same conclusion as the U.S., European, and Australia, New Zealand societies did in July. This isn't Cyclopharm marketing claim. It's the medical profession's own position. It was published under their own names.

Andrew Musgrave

And Technegas is already present in most provinces across China. How do you expect this consensus to translate into hospital adoption and consumable volumes?

James McBrayer

Andrew, we we've been registered in China for more than 20 years, so this isn't a market entry story. It's about standardizing practice in a market where we're already having a footprint there. The consensus was written specifically because practice varies between hospitals. Its stated purpose is to standardize how the scan is performed and reported across China. When the national standard names Technegas is preferred, you know, hospitals that are using other agents or are not doing ventilation imaging at all have a clear reason to move. The market itself is growing. China has more than 1,200 nuclear medicine departments, with nearly 800 doing the spec imaging that Technegas uses, and government policy aims to roughly double that sector by 2035. I won't put numbers on the impact today, but the direction supported by a multidisciplinary consensus is clearly positive. And you know, we'll report progress with our regular updates there.

Andrew Musgrave

In late July, the SNMMI, EANM, ACNM, and ANZSNM published joint guidelines naming Technegas as generally preferred when available. With China now following, you have described this as a global standard of care. What has driven this alignment across four continents in less than three months?

James McBrayer

Well, I'll put it simply, it's the evidence. These groups worked separately through different processes for very different health systems, and they arrived at the same answer. That only happens when you know clinical case is clear. Technegas particles are small enough to reach the deepest parts of the lung and stay there, so clinicians get a clean, accurate picture of true ventilation. That's especially important with 3D spec imaging when the July guidelines now recommend as the preferred technique. There's also Andrew, there's also a patient safety story. The July guidelines note that Technegas lung scans give a breast radiation dose around 70 times lower than CT pulmonary angiograms. The FDA in the U.S. even approved Technegas for paediatric reuse. I'd like to highlight one more point here, though. Guidelines normally avoid naming brands. When two independent sets of guidelines on opposite sides of the world both named as Technegas, that's the profession telling hospitals what good practice looks like.

Andrew Musgrave

Looking at the financials, the company delivered revenue of 17.5 million for the first half of 2026, up 14% in your fifth consecutive record half. And gross margin rose to 56.3%. So, what were the main drivers behind the result?

James McBrayer

Well, the standout was the United States. U.S. Technegas revenue grew 74%, and the U.S. is now our largest market for Technegas, both in total and per installation. The margin improvements follow directly from that. Every new U.S. site adds recurring consumable revenue at margins, you know, greater than 90-95%. So as the U.S. becomes a bigger share of the mix, group margins are going to rise. On the balance sheet, we finished June at $12.2 million in cash after our $13.5 million raising. And we believe we passed peak cash burn. And importantly, every one of those results was delivered before the new guidelines were published. That tailwind is only starting in the U.S.

Andrew Musgrave

And staying in the U.S., U.S. Technegas revenue grew by 74% to 2.1 million. Revenue generating sites doubled to 70 as of 30 June, and you had reached 83 by mid-August. So, what's driving that acceleration?

James McBrayer

Well, you know, a few things are coming together. The first is our customers. More than half of our U.S. locations are expansion units within existing customers. You know, once a health system uses Technegas, it rolls it out to more of its hospitals. University hospitals in Cleveland deployed 11 sites within signing their agreement. The second is the quality of the customer base. We're now in roughly half of the U.S. news honour roll hospitals and 27 of the 200 largest hospitals in the country. Those are the reference sites that others follow. And third is, I suppose, the shift to network contracts, agreements like Adventist Health, University Hospitals, and our growing U.S. government footprint to include the VA and the Department of Defence let us scale many times under that single contract. Now we have the guidelines, Andrew, that where historically we relied on clinicians to drive approval internally, hospital committees can read for themselves that Technegas is the preferred agent.

Andrew Musgrave

Now around 220 sites are on hold due to get U.S. government funding volatility and facility delays. How do you plan to bring those back into the active pipeline?

James McBrayer

Well, first, there's some perspective. Those 220 sites sit on top of an active pipeline of nearly 1,700 engaged locations. So, they're upside for us, not the core of our plan. Most of those delays are about timing, not demand. You know, funding cycles reset, building works, finishing, or competing projects to be completed. Our team stays in contact with every one of them and we revisit them throughout the year. The guidelines give us a whole new reason to re-engage. When a site paused, the national standard in the U.S. was from 2012 and predated Technegas. Now there's a published guideline naming Technegas as preferred. You know, that's a strong argument for a capital or procurement committee to put a project back on the agenda. For VA sites in particular, Technegas consumables are on a five-year contract listed on the federal supply schedule, and we help those sites with documentation they need for contracting processes.

Andrew Musgrave

Turning now to Cyclopharm’s Beyond PE strategy, which targets up to 1.1 billion US dollars of additional addressable market in conditions such as CTEPH, COPD, asthma, and pre- and post-surgical lung assessment. How are the new guidelines helping to open up those markets?

James McBrayer

You know, Andrew, this is one of the most important parts of the July guidelines and often is misunderstood by most as far as our market potential. For the first time, these guidelines set out for uses in lung scanning well beyond diagnosing a clot, each with its own technical guidance. That includes screening for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension or called CTEF, follow-up scans after clot, measuring lung function before and after lung surgery or radiotherapy, assessing lung transplants and grading small airways disease like COPD and asthma. The Chinese consensus also supports scanning for follow-up and treatment response NP and CTEF.

Andrew Musgrave

And AI-driven quantification software is now combining Technegas functional imaging with CT anatomy. How do you see AI reshaping lung imaging and the role Technegas plays within it?

James McBrayer

You know, Andrew, before I go on to that, I just want to make one point clear. You know, all of those additional indications, they all fall within our FDA approved indication for use for visualizing pulmonary ventilation. So, the guidelines don't create a new product for us. They give clinicians a recognized framework to use Technegas in for many patients. Coming into the AI side of things, which was also mentioned in the guidelines, the way I put it is, you know, a CT scan shows what the lung looks like structurally. Technegas shows how it's working, its true function. Put them together and you get structure and function in one picture. AI turns that picture into numbers. Software can now measure how much each lobe or region of the lung contributes to breathing. That's exactly what a surgeon needs for removing part of a lung or what a respiratory physician needs to track a patient's condition over time that, say, for example, has COPD or asthma. But AI is only as good as the data you feed it. The July guidelines make that point, noting that AI depends on clean, stable, clinically validated data, and that Technegas data doesn't need corrections other agents require. So as AI grows in imaging, the quality of Technegas data becomes more valuable, actually not less.

Andrew Musgrave

And finally, James, what are the key milestones investors should be watching out for over the next 12 months? And why should they be paying attention to Cyclopharm right now?

James McBrayer

Well, Andrew, I guess for the next 12 months, I'd watch three things. First, the conversion of our U.S. pipeline into revenue generating sites and the growth in revenue per site as usage builds. Second is adoption driven by the guidelines in the US, Europe, and now China. And third, progress on beyond pulmonary embolism, including clinical data and new uses for Technegas. As for why now, for the first time, you know, the medical profession globally have written Technegas into its standard of care. We've a proven product, a growing installed base, recurring revenue at a very high margin, and we've passed peak cash burn. Everything we built in the U.S. so far; we've built without guideline support. Now we have it, and we're only just getting started.

Andrew Musgrave

Okay, James. Well, it's been great to chat. Thanks for coming on the podcast, and we look forward to further updates in the upcoming months.

James McBrayer

Thanks, Andrew.

Andrew Musgrave

That concludes this episode of ASX Briefs. Don't forget to subscribe, and we look forward to catching you on our next episode.