Orano Med:
- ATEF (Advanced Thorium Extraction Facility) plant is now watertight, marking a major step toward the completion of civil engineering work.
- Construction is progressing according to schedule, with start-up planned for 2027.
- A site visit brought together institutional partners, local authorities, and economic stakeholders to celebrate this achievement.
- ATEF will be the world’s first industrial facility dedicated to the production of thorium-228, the precursor of lead-212 used in innovative targeted alpha therapies against cancer.
Orano Med, a subsidiary of the Orano group specializing in the development of targeted alpha therapies in oncology, announced today that the Advanced Thorium Extraction Facility (ATEF) in Bessines-sur-Gartempe, near Limoges, France, has now reached the dry-in phase, with sealing works completed. This marks a major milestone since the groundbreaking in November 2024.
To celebrate this milestone, a site visit was organized, bringing together numerous institutional and local partners who have supported the project since its inception. Among those present were Andréa Brouille, mayor of Bessines-sur-Gartempe and first vice-president of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, and Alain Auzemery, president of the ELAN community of municipalities and vice-president of the Haute-Vienne departmental council. Representatives from these authorities, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Development and Innovation Agency (ADI NA), the Limoges and Haute-Vienne Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Limousin Union of Metallurgy Industries and Trades also took part in the visit.
Both Orano Med and Orano Projets1 teams were present to share the progress of the work and discuss the next steps. “Construction is progressing according to schedule. We have the full commitment of our partners and all the companies and stakeholders involved to bring this exciting ATEF plant to fruition,” underscored Bruno Pagnard, ATEF project manager.
Eric Pluche, director of Orano’s Bessines-sur-Gartempe site, also emphasized the significance of the new ATEF facility, both for the development embarked upon by the Bessines-sur-Gartempe industrial site and, more broadly, for the local economy, which is gaining an innovative platform that will create skilled jobs. “With the hiring of 70 new employees, Orano is demonstrating its commitment to investing in the region over the long term and helping to boost its attractiveness,” he commented.
Orano Med is developing a new generation of targeted cancer therapies, known as Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT), using the unique properties of lead-212. The development of these promising drugs has long been hampered by the difficulty of producing them on an industrial scale. With a floor area of nearly 7,000 m² and a production capacity ten times greater than that of the Maurice Tubiana laboratory, ATEF will be the world’s first industrial-scale facility dedicated to the production of thorium-228, a key precursor for the production of lead-212.
The coming months will be devoted to completion of civil engineering work, followed by the installation and qualification of the plant equipment. The facility is scheduled to begin operations in 2027. The total investment is estimated at €250 million, including €22 million of French government funding through the France 2030 scheme under the “Industrialization and Health Capacities 2030” call for projects.
“The ATEF plant is a key component in Orano Med’s fully integrated industrial platform. This platform will cover the entire value chain of targeted alpha therapies, from precursor production to lead-212–based therapies. It will enable the large-scale production of these treatments to meet the needs of patients worldwide,” said Fabrice Darvey, Director of Industrial Operations at Orano Med.
The combined production capacities of ATEF and the Maurice Tubiana laboratory will in the short term provide the necessary supplies for clinical trials and commercial launches of the first treatments developed by Orano Med. Within ten years, this industrial platform will be able to treat up to 25,000 patients per year.
