Mergers and Acquisitions

Areva has announced that its nuclear medicine subsidiary, Areva Med, has acquired Macrocyclics. Areva Med has developed innovative methods for producing lead-212 (212Pb), a rare radioactive isotope at the heart of promising research projects in nuclear medicine to develop new treatments against cancer.Macrocyclics, based in Dallas, Texas, is the world leader in the production of  chelators, chemical agents that allow for the attachment of antibodies or proteins with radioactive isotopes for the development of powerful nuclear medical treatments targeted against aggressive types of cancer.

This acquisition allows Areva Med to offer new technology for attaching this isotope to antibodies targeting cancerous cells. In January 2011, the FDA gave Areva Med authorization to begin clinical trials for a new medicine using lead-212 to combat particularly aggressive types of cancer.

Areva is building a new facility, the Maurice Tubiana Laboratory, to produce large-scale quantities of medical-grade lead-212 in the Limousin region of France.