Fighting Cancer: Orano Med Begins Construction of Its Thorium-228 Production Facility

On 14 November 2024, Orano Med broke ground on its ATEF (Advanced Thorium Extraction Facility) plant in Haute-Vienne, France. This is the world’s first industrial facility dedicated to producing thorium-228, the precursor to lead-212, for targeted internal radiotherapy applications.

Orano Med, the subsidiary of the Orano Group at the forefront of targeted alphatherapy development in oncology, continues to expand its capabilities in the fight against cancer. The subsidiary is active in North America, with a recent agreement with Sanofi and the inauguration of a pharmaceutical lab, as well as in France, where it is building multiple facilities. On 2 February 2024, Orano Med began constructing a pharmaceutical laboratory in Hauts-de-France, a replica of its U.S. lab, dedicated to producing targeted internal radiotherapies using lead-212. Strengthening its growth in France, Orano Med celebrated the groundbreaking of its ATEF facility in Bessines-sur-Gartempe, Haute-Vienne, on 14 November 2024. This is the world’s first industrial plant dedicated to thorium-228 production, a precursor to lead-212, for targeted radiotherapy applications.

Industrial-Scale Thorium-228 Production

Thorium-228 is the precursor element to lead-212 (via radioactive decay), which is used in Orano Med’s treatments to target cancer cells. “Thanks to innovations ensuring a very high level of purity, the construction of ATEF will industrialise the thorium-228 production process, developed over the past 10 years by the Maurice Tubiana Laboratory (LMT),” the press release explained. The facility is scheduled to open in 2027. Covering 7,000 m², the ATEF plant will supply all ATLab (Alpha Therapy Laboratory) sites producing lead-212-based medicines. Moreover, it will increase the Maurice Tubiana Laboratory’s current thorium-228 production capacity tenfold, enabling the production of 100,000 doses of medication per year within the next decade.

Until now, the deployment of lead-212-based alphatherapies has been constrained by the challenges of scaling production to an industrial level. With the ATEF plant and ATLab facilities, Orano Med will be able to manufacture medications at a sustained pace, delivering treatments to patients worldwide. Nicolas Maes, CEO of Orano, commented: “The establishment of the ATEF plant at our historic site in Bessines-sur-Gartempe is a crucial milestone in the development of our activities in the region. (…) This project also aligns with Orano’s mission to repurpose nuclear materials, the core business of our group.”■