July 29, 2022 – Framatome today announced that it acquired a minority stake in Global Morpho Pharma. With this investment, Framatome strengthens its activities serving nuclear medicine development and expands its support for the supply chain of Lutetium-177 and other promising isotopes for therapeutic applications.
Global Morpho Pharma is a startup founded in 2018 and based in the Nantes region of France. The company develops innovative equipment and provides value-added services to radiopharmaceutical companies for the production and distribution of medical radioisotopes. The additional capital from Framatome’s investment accelerates the industrialization of Global Morpho Pharma’s technologies and reinforces its research and development efforts.
“We are proud to invest in an innovative French company with strong values, highly connected to its local ecosystem and capacity for international development,” said Bernard Fontana, CEO of Framatome. “This collaboration strengthens our Framatome Healthcare brand and builds on our contributions in the fight against cancer.”
“Mass access to nuclear medicine is closely linked to the development of reliable and diversified supply chains,” added François Gauché, director of Framatome Healthcare. “Our agreement with Global Morpho Pharma provides industrial solutions for the upstream supply chain and contributes to the production of the Lutetium-177 and the deployment of new cancer radiotherapies.”
Lutetium-177 is a beta-emitting radioisotope used for the treatment of prostate cancer and in radiopharmaceutical developments for other cancer indications. Framatome’s proprietary technology enabled the first production of Lutetium-177 in a Canadian power reactor in June 2022.
Through its CERCA division, Framatome has for more than 50 years serviced research reactors around the world, a key link in the security of supply of radioisotopes for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, including Lutetium-177.
“The rise of radiotheranostics brings new therapeutic solutions to many cancer patients. The rapid development of this emerging field requires us to anticipate tomorrow’s production chains to meet the growing need for Lutetium-177, the active substance of many radiotherapeutics,” explained Pierre-Marie Lemer, president of Global Morpho Pharma.
“Our partnership with Framatome, which has strong and complementary expertise in the supply chain of medical radioisotopes, will accelerate the development of turnkey radioisotope production solutions for the radiopharmaceutical sector,” added François Zimmermann, CEO of Global Morpho Pharma.
Framatome Healthcare is committed to developing products and services for the healthcare industry. Its team supports the value chain for the radioisotopes used in radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic imaging and therapeutic purposes, supplies special alloys for the development of surgical implants and prostheses and provides advanced solutions for complex sterilization facilities essential for the use of medical materials. Framatome Healthcare’s experts advance the fight against cancer and develop and support medical applications of nuclear technology.