Nuclear Medicine: AREVA selects Caen for its future industrial development

Luc Oursel, President of AREVA, announced today, in the presence of Bernard Cazeneuve, the French Deputy Minister for Finance, Philippe Duron, Member of Parliament, Mayor of Caen, President of the Caen la Mer urban community, Jean-Léonce Dupont, Senator, President of the General Council of Calvados, and Laurent Bauvais, President of the Basse-Normandie Regional Council, the selection of the Caen la Mer urban community (Calvados, France) as the location for its second lead-212 production facility.

The future production facility of AREVA Med, the subsidiary dedicated to the development of cancer treatments, will provide an industrial production capacity to complement the Maurice Tubiana Facility in Bessines (Haute-Vienne, France). Based in the Basse-Normandie region, the construction of this facility will be confirmed following important scientific programs underway. Lead-212 is a rare metal used in the development of targeted and innovative treatments for certain cancers that do not respond to other conventional methods. The first commercial production is planned for 2020.

“This choice illustrates our confidence in the future of AREVA Med and our determination to create powerful and targeted treatments as quickly as possible. With its many academic, industrial, and scientific assets, the Caen la Mer urban community boasts the advantages necessary for the success of our medical subsidiary. This new project reinforces the historic links between our group and the Basse-Normandie region,” said Luc Oursel, President and CEO of AREVA.

Lead-212 is being used currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial coordinated by AREVA Med at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the United States. Several new scientific partnerships are currently being studied with a dozen institutions.