PARIS, Nov. 21, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AREVA Med inaugurated today 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."
For more information about AREVA Med: http://arevamed.areva.com
MORE ABOUT AREVA MED
AREVA Med is an AREVA subsidiary specializing in the development of innovative therapies to fight cancer. AREVA Med has developed new processes for producing high purity lead-212 ( 212 Pb), a rare metal that is currently at the heart of promising nuclear medicine research. In 2011, AREVA Med acquired Macrocyclics, the global leader in high performance chelating agent technology. AREVA Med is also associated with world-class scientific partners, such as the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). In 2012, AREVA Med and Roche entered a strategic alliance to create novel advanced alpha radioimmunotherapy treatments to target and kill certain very aggressive types of cancer cells. For more information: http://arevamed.areva.com/ or www.targetedtrials.com .
MORE ABOUT AREVA
AREVA supplies advanced technology solutions for power generation with less carbon. Its expertise and unwavering insistence on safety, security, transparency and ethics are setting the standard, and its responsible development is anchored in a process of continuous improvement.
Ranked first in the global nuclear power industry, AREVA's unique integrated offering to utilities covers every stage of the fuel cycle, nuclear reactor design and construction, and operating services. The group is actively developing its activities in renewable energies – wind, bioenergy, solar and energy storage – to become a European leader in this sector.
With these two major offers, AREVA's 46,000 employees are helping to supply ever safer, cleaner and more economical energy to the greatest number of people.
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