Last Thursday, the town of Bessines-sur-Gartempe (Haute-Vienne) welcomed the first elements of a revolutionary factory, report our colleagues from France 3 Regions. Indeed, the Orano Med group has launched the construction of its lead-212 producing site, an essential molecule for future radiotherapy treatments.
Targeted alphatherapy promises to be a major innovation in the fight against cancer. This treatment based on lead-212, extracted from thorium (a radioactive metal), promises to be less invasive and less toxic for patients. The promise: kill the cancer cell without compromising neighboring healthy cells.
250 million euros invested in the production of lead-212
The Orano Med group has been refining its research for several years thanks to clinical trials at the Maurice Tubiana laboratory, located near the future factory. These conclusive results pushed the company to increase the production of lead-212 on an industrial scale. This will then be shipped to a factory in the United States, but also another in the north of France to produce the drug called AlphaMedixTM.
In addition to the hope given to cancer patients, the investment of 250 million euros is a boon for the former mining town of Bessines-sur-Gartempe. There will be 50 to 70 direct jobs and around a hundred indirect jobs created in 2027. The Orano Med group aims to produce 100,000 doses over the next ten years.
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