Immersion in the new radiopharmacy of the GIP Cyceron in Caen, France 🎥
As part of the extension of its cleanroom, the Cyceron biomedical imaging platform in Caen, France, has chosen Lemer Pax radiation protection equipment for its new radiopharmacy laboratory.
At the cutting edge of technology, this radiopharmacy plays a central role in the preparation of radiopharmaceutical drugs.
Watch the interview with Dr Ahmed ABBAS, Radiopharmacist at GIP Cyceron in Caen, France:
What is GIP Cyceron?
The GIP (Groupement d’Intérêt Public) Cyceron is a cutting-edge biomedical imaging platform and research centre, created in the 1980s and bringing together, in a single location, research teams working in the fields of cardiology, neuroscience and oncology.
Cyceron has a set of cold chemistry laboratories and a clean room. This technological complex enables the radioactive labelling of molecules with radioelements of interest, the production of radiotracers and then their transformation into radiopharmaceuticals that can be injected into humans. The clean room produces and distributes radiopharmaceuticals within the regulatory framework of the PUI (Pharmacy for Internal Use) of Caen University Hospital. These radiopharmaceuticals are essentially drugs labelled with positron-emitting radionuclides, such as Fluorine-18, Carbon-11 or Oxygen-15, and are then used for research throughout Normandy and neighbouring regions.
What does the new clean room for radiopharmaceutical production consist of?
The new cleanroom incorporates a complete enclosure chain for radiopharmaceuticals production, including :
- shielded production and dispensing hot cells
- equipment dedicated to the radiosynthesis of molecules and a formulation system
- analytical chemistry equipment and devices for characterising the nuclear purity of preparations
- radiopharmaceutical dose calibration unit
Lemer Pax new pharmaceutical equipments
DS-75: production shielded hot cells
The DS-75 production hot cells located in the cleanroom initially capture the cyclotron’s output. In other words, the specific radionuclides produced during the first stage of radiopharmaceutical preparation.
Radiosynthesis modules are placed in these shielded cells to initiate radiosynthesis, i.e. radiolabeling of the molecule of interest, so that it can then be transferred to the shielded distribution cell.
REP-75: shielded radiopharmaceuticals dispensing hot cell
The REP-75 dispensing hot cell installed in the hot laboratory recovers production from the radiosynthesis modules to prepare batches of radiopharmaceutical vials ready for distribution, thanks to a formulation and dispensing module.
DOM: formulation – distribution module
The Dose Operating Module, or DOM, is a device carrying out a number of essential operations for finalizing the batches of radiopharmaceuticals:
- recovery of the raw solution from production modules,
- characterization of the volume activity of batches,
- dilution, sometimes necessary to adapt the volume injected for under-camera examinations,
- batch bottling (solution dispensing and vial crimping).
The batches of radiopharmaceutical doses are then transferred into shielded containers and distributed either within the center itself to Cyceron’s Nuclear Medicine department, or to other partner radiopharmacies located further away, or to other towns or regions, for the purposes of clinical trials for which GIP Cyceron is a partner.
Lemer Pax Qualities:
- Efficiency
- Fiability
- Communication
- Attentive to the needs of its customers and partners
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