Could China's latest restrictions impact the supply of MRI contrast?
The ongoing trade war between the United States and China could jeopardize the availability of contrast agents used for medical imaging.
China recently fired back at the Trump administration with retaliatory tariffs and export restrictions of its own. Beijing announced new export controls of several rare-earth materials, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium, effective April 4.
Gadolinium, lutetium and yttrium are each routinely used in radiology settings—gadolinium in MRI contrast agents, lutetium as a radiopharmaceutical (Lu-177) in oncology, and yttrium in targeted radiotherapy procedures. Restrictions on these items could disrupt the supply chain, potentially causing delays in both diagnosis and treatment.
The vast majority—90%—of all rare earth metals are processed in China. Even those that are not sourced directly from China will end up there for processing. It is estimated that the U.S. sourced around 70% of all rare earth metals from the republic between 2020 and 2023.
Numerous industries in the U.S., especially healthcare, rely heavily on their exportation. Despite this, big name pharmaceutical companies that manufacture contrast agents and radiopharmaceuticals have not yet publicly signaled panic over trade frictions. This could be, at least in part, due to previous supply chain disruptions that have spurred companies to take measures to mitigate shortages.
In a statement released to the Washington Post, Bayer—a global supplier of GBCAs—said it is actively monitoring the situation, but does not anticipate any supply disruptions in the immediate future.
"We have a robust global manufacturing and supply network and are committed to maintaining supply chain resilience of our contrast agents worldwide, while minimizing any impact for our customers," a spokesperson said.
What’s more, Bayer has been working to develop GBCAs that use significantly less gadolinium. Gadoquatrane, its investigational GBCA, uses 60% less gadolinium without sacrificing image quality, according to recent findings from the phase 3 QUANTI trial. So far, gadoquatrane has achieved both primary and secondary endpoints at the lower dose without sacrificing image quality.
“As a leader in radiology, we are committed to bringing forward innovations for the benefit of patients, including potential options to reduce the gadolinium dose. We are very pleased with the positive topline results of the QUANTI studies and are looking forward to sharing the data with the scientific community,” Konstanze Diefenbach, MD, head of Radiology Research & Development at Bayer, said in a statement at the time.
It is not immediately clear how the exportation restrictions will affect the supply chain of imaging materials sourced in China, but these improvements may prove to be especially beneficial amid trade tensions.
Health Imaging will continue to share updates on the situation as they emerge.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.