Orano Med inaugurates Pb-212 production facility in Indiana

The details: With over 30,000 square feet (2,800 m²) of floor space, ATLab Indianapolis represents an investment of $20 million and will create 25 direct jobs, according to Orano. It will focus on the production of Pb-212 therapies developed by Orano Med and their distribution in North America. In 2023, Orano Med started construction work on a similar facility at Valenciennes in France to serve the European market.

Combined, this will enable Orano Med to manufacture 10,000 doses a year worldwide as of 2025, with the aim of producing 10 times that number by the end of the decade. The location near Indianapolis was chosen for its proximity to major national and international distribution networks, with the second-largest FedEx hub, ensuring reliable transport of radiopharmaceutical products, as well as its high concentration of pharmaceutical companies and skilled workforce. Orano foresees the construction of further ATLabs to meet patients’ needs worldwide.

Held June 6, the inauguration ceremony for ATLabs Indianapolis was attended by Yannick Tagand, consul general of France in Chicago; Tony Denhart, executive vice president for Talent and Workforce of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation; Travis Tschaenn, president of the Brownsburg Town Council; Guillaume Dureau, senior executive vice president of Projects & Innovation R&D and Nuclear Medicine for the Orano Group; Jean-Luc Palayer, president and chief executive officer of Orano USA; and Julien Dodet, president and CEO of Orano Med.

Quotables: “The ATLab in Indianapolis is a very important step in the development of the Orano medical activities in the U.S. Coupled with the lead-212 production capacity of our research unit in Plano, Texas—the Domestic Distribution & Purification Unit—this new industrial site will enable us to serve North American patients requiring targeted lead-212 radiotherapy treatments,” said Guillaume Dureau.

Orano Med’s Julien Dodet added, “We are convinced that lead-212 radioligand therapies will soon become an essential tool in the fight against cancer. Having obtained, together with our partner RadioMedix, breakthrough therapy designation from the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] for our most advanced drug, AlphaMedix, the inauguration of ATLab Indianapolis represents another major step forward in the development, production, and distribution of these new treatments on a large scale.”