Radiopharmaceutical firm Covidien has launched a generic version of Cardiolite, the technetium sestamibi radiopharmaceutical for SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging.
The Hamilton, Bermuda-based company said that it launched the product after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its abbreviated new drug application. The branded version of Cardiolite is marketed by Lantheus Medical Imaging of North Billerica, MA, and is used in nearly 60% of the 15 million myocardial perfusion studies performed annually in the U.S., according to Covidien.
Covidien said that its generic version of Cardiolite has recently received final regulatory approval in Denmark, Germany, and the U.K.
In a statement, Lantheus said it will continue to market its branded version of Cardiolite and will not market its own generic version of the agent. The company is highlighting Cardiolite's track record in imaging 40 million patients over 17 years, as well as its support and service for the branded product.
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![Overview of the study design. (A) The fully automated deep learning framework was developed to estimate body composition (BC) (defined as subcutaneous adipose tissue [SAT] in liters; visceral adipose tissue [VAT] in liters; skeletal muscle [SM] in liters; SM fat fraction [SMFF] as a percentage; and intramuscular adipose tissue [IMAT] in deciliters) from MRI. The fully automated framework comprised one model (model 1) to quantify different BC measures (SAT, VAT, SM, SMFF, and IMAT) as three-dimensional (3D) measures from whole-body MRI scans. The second model (model 2) was trained to identify standardized anatomic landmarks along the craniocaudal body axis (z coordinate field), which allowed for subdividing the whole-body measures into different subregions typically examined on clinical routine MRI scans (chest, abdomen, and pelvis). (B) BC was quantified from whole-body MRI in over 66,000 individuals from two large population-based cohort studies, the UK Biobank (UKB) (36,317 individuals) and the German National Cohort (NAKO) (30,291 individuals). Bar graphs show age distribution by sex and cohort. BMI = body mass index. (C) After the performance assessment of the fully automated framework, the change in BC measures, distributions, and profiles across age decades were investigated. Age-, sex-, and height-adjusted body composition reference curves were calculated and made publicly available in a web-based z-score calculator (https://circ-ml.github.io).](https://img.auntminnieeurope.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/05/body-comp.XgAjTfPj1W.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
