Top

Resulting from a common will of the CRCINA, Arronax and the University hospital of Nantes, the project submitted by Jean-François Gestin to set up an international clinical network in Europe dedicated to 211 astatine alpha-therapy was selected by the jury of the European COST (Cooperation in Science and Technology) fund.

Named “Network for Optimized Astatine labeled Radiopharmaceuticals (NOAR)”, the COST action aims to demonstrate that one of the most promising radionuclides for targeted alpha therapy, astatine-211, can become the european standard for the treatment of certain cancer pathologies.

It consists of networking the stakeholders involved in the development of astatine-211 for medical applications: european and international excellence laboratories, astatine-211 production centres, hospitals, industries and patient associations in more than 20 countries, including France. This is to cover the whole value chain of innovation, from astatine-211 production to administration of the radiopharmaceutical in the clinic, including all stages of chemistry and preclinical and clinical research.

“Our objective is to set up 4 to 5 treatment centers dedicated to astatine 211, or “alpha nodes”, in Europe, so that we will have the capacity to treat all patients within a european technological and regulatory framework”, says Jean-François Gestin, head of chemistry and radiochemistry in the medical nuclear oncology team (UMR 1232/CRCINA) in Nantes (France) and coordinator of the COST NOAR action.

The first management committee meeting in Brussels in autumn 2020 will mark the launch of the action* for a 4-year period.

* The list of participating countries will be then finalised and the amount of the annual budget allocated to the Action will be specified accordingly.