AREVA : Roche and AREVA Med join forces in the fight against cancer and create a novel radio-immunotherapy
07/27/2012| 03:55am US/Eastern
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Regulatory News:
Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) and AREVA Med, a subsidiary of AREVA
(Paris: AREVA), announced today that they have entered into a strategic
collaboration to create a novel, advanced alpha radio-immunotherapy
platform to target and kill cancer cells. The agreement will focus on
malignant disease with a high unmet medical need.
Under this exclusive agreement, Roche's Pharma Research and Early
Development (pRED) organization and AREVA Med will assess the efficacy
of combining Roche-engineered antibodies with AREVA Med's radionuclide,
Lead-212, a compound that shows promise in treating some types of
cancer. Roche retains exclusive rights to commercialise the cancer
radio-immunotherapy after clinical development. The alliance combines
Roche's expertise in engineered antibodies with AREVA Med's proficiency
in developing radioactive isotopes.
"As a global leader in the development of innovative cancer treatments,
our primary goal is to improve the standard of care for cancer patients
around the world. By using new approaches, such as alpha
radio-immunotherapy, we hope to be able to efficiently target and kill
cancer cells while sparing the surrounding tissue, which is critical in
the treatment process," said Mike Burgess, Acting Global Head, Pharma
Research and Early Development at Roche. "AREVA Med's unique technology,
paired with our advanced cancer-targeting biologics, puts us in an
excellent position to achieve this goal and bring hope to many cancer
patients suffering from this devastating disease."
Alpha radio-immunotherapy is a novel cancer treatment with several
advantages over conventional radiotherapy. Compared to other types of
radiation, alpha radiation travels only short distances in human tissue,
so its energy is absorbed in a smaller area for improved cell death
while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. Therefore, by targeting
cancer cells with highly specific antibodies combined with Lead-212,
there is an opportunity to more precisely irradiate and kill cancerous
cells.
"This major agreement with Roche is a remarkable milestone for nuclear
medicine and radio-immunotherapy," said Patrick Bourdet, President and
CEO of AREVA Med. "Joining the core competencies of two global leaders
in their respective fields will allow for the accelerated development of
personalized, powerful and targeted treatments using Lead-212."
About AREVA and AREVA Med
AREVA supplies solutions for power generation with less carbon. Ranked
first in the global nuclear power industry, AREVA's unique integrated
offering to utilities covers every stage of the fuel cycle, nuclear
reactor design and construction, and related services. The group is also
expanding its operations to renewable energies - wind, solar,
bioenergies, hydrogen and storage - to be one of the leaders in this
sector worldwide. With these two major offers, AREVA's 48,000 employees
are helping to supply ever safer, cleaner and more economical energy to
the greatest number of people. For more information: www.areva.com
AREVA Med is an AREVA subsidiary specializing in the development of
innovative therapies to fight cancer. AREVA Med has developed new
processes for producing high purity ²¹²Pb, a rare radioactive isotope
that is currently at the heart of promising nuclear medicine research to
develop new treatments against some of the most aggressive forms of
cancer. In 2011, AREVA Med acquired Macrocyclics, the global leader for
metal chelators, who will also participate in the collaboration with
Roche. AREVA Med is also associated with world-class scientific
partners, such as the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the University of
Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and the French National Institute of Health
and Medical Research (Inserm). For more information: www.arevamed.com
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in
research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals
and diagnostics. Roche is the world's largest biotech company with truly
differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism
and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics,
tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management.
Roche's personalised healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and
diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health,
quality of life and survival of patients. In 2011, Roche had over 80,000
employees worldwide and invested over 9 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The
Group posted sales of 42.5 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United
States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a
majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche.com
Roche Partnering
Sharon Valdettaro
+41 61 688 9655
+41
79 5590084
sharon.valdettaro@roche.com
or
AREVA
Patricia
Marie
+ 33 (0)1 34 96 12 15
patricia.marie@areva.com
Jerome
Rosso :
+ 33 (0)1 34 96 12 15
jerome.rosso@areva.com
or
AREVA
Med
Alison Bedford
+1 301 841 1673
Alison.bedford@areva.com
© Business Wire 2012
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