Zhang Yiming, Chairman of HTA: Tackling the "Last Mile" of Nuclear Pharmacy Network Delivery to Bring Domestic Radiopharmaceuticals to Patients in Western and County-Level Regions

On July 28, the 2026 Radiopharmaceutical Innovation and Development Conference was held in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. Zhang Yiming, Party Committee Secretary and Chairman of HTA, told reporters that the company is restructuring its short half-life radiopharmaceutical delivery system through a combined strategy of "regional layout + standardized logistics + grassroots empowerment," striving to ensure that cancer patients in western and county-level regions can access domestically produced radiopharmaceuticals within the drug's effective half-life window.

Currently, multi-dimensional policy dividends are being continuously released, and China's radiopharmaceutical industry is entering a critical window of opportunity. "Alpha nuclide drugs represent the future direction of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals," Zhang Yiming introduced. HTA has already made early arrangements for drug research in this field, jointly conducting research and development with the China Institute for Radiation Protection (CIRP), a subsidiary within the group, on a first-in-class innovative drug for prostate cancer treatment labeled with actinium-225. At present, small-scale and pilot-scale studies have been completed, and non-clinical research is underway. Meanwhile, the company is working with the Spallation Neutron Source Science Center at the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, to advance the application of alpha nuclides in clinical drug translation. This initiative aims to build an efficient bridge between source innovation and industrial implementation.

The nuclear pharmacy network represents the "last mile" for the commercialization of short half-life radiopharmaceuticals. Facing the timeliness challenges of therapeutic drugs such as RDCs, Zhang Yiming introduced that HTA is systematically transforming its traditional delivery system through a combined strategy of "regional layout + standardized logistics + grassroots empowerment."

It is understood that HTA has established production centers in Northwest China (Xi'an, Lanzhou, Xinjiang, etc.) and Southwest China (Chengdu, Guiyang, Nanning, Kunming, Nanchong, etc.), forming an extensive regional radiopharmaceutical production and supply network. Building on this regional layout, HTA has established a standardized logistics system to ensure the timeliness and safety of "last mile" delivery.

While ensuring delivery timeliness, HTA is also focusing on the balanced allocation of medical resources. Zhang Yiming stated that the company is actively empowering the "One County, One Department" initiative, providing drug supply assurance for the development of grassroots nuclear medicine departments.

The conference was hosted by the Radiopharmaceutical Branch of the China Isotope and Radiation Association, under the theme "Nuclear Fusion for New Quality, Radiopharmaceuticals for the Future." Going forward, HTA will join hands with upstream and downstream partners across the industrial chain to build an innovation ecosystem, advancing the "Healthy China" strategy with high-quality domestic supply.