OREANDA-NEWS. December 04, 2013. AREVA Med inaugurated the Maurice Tubiana Facility located at Bessines-sur-Gartempe, France (Limousin region). After receiving the administrative authorizations and completing the prerequisite technical testing, this unique facility has started production to extract and purify lead-212 for medical use.

This rare metal is used in the development of innovative treatments for certain cancers that do not respond to other conventional methods. As innovation in nuclear medicine is dependent upon the availability of high purity isotopes, the industrial production of the Maurice Tubiana Facility will provide sufficient amounts of high-purity lead 212 for clinical development. Lead-212 is being used currently in an AREVA Med Phase 1 clinical trial at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the United States.

Patrick Bourdet, CEO of AREVA Med, said: “This facility, completed thanks to AREVA’s expertise in radiochemistry and nuclear facility design and the support of our partners, confirms AREVA Med’s industrial development. This will allow us to accelerate the development of alpha radio-immunotherapy using lead-212.”