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- Institut Curie, the CEA and Thales Sign a Partnership to Build a Unique FLASH Radiotherapy Platform to Accelerate the Cure for Cancers Throughout the World
One year after its launch[1], the FRATHEA radiotherapy project (Flash RAdiation THerapy Electron Acceleration), supported by Institut Curie in collaboration with the CEA, is taking a major new step: Thales has been selected as a partner in charge of building and installing a very high energy electron irradiator (VHEE) on the Orsay site of Institut Curie. This project aims to increase the recovery rate in cancer patients and reduce the side effects induced by radiation thanks to the combination of FLASH radiotherapy with very high energy electron beams.
Prof. Alain Puisieux Chairman of the Executive Board of Institut Curie
This partnership will make it possible to have a unique, world-leading platform by 2029 to demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of FLASH-VHEE radiotherapy, and launch the first clinical trials in patients with cancers with a particularly unfavorable prognosis.
Funded by France 2030 and the Ile-de-France Region to the tune of €37 million[2] over four years, this pioneering project aims to shorten treatments. It specifically targets cancers located near vital organs or cancers that are difficult to access, such as lung and pancreatic cancers, brain tumors, and pediatric cancers.
"Thales relies on 50 years of experience around particle accelerators, for scientific and sovereign applications, particularly in cooperation with the CEA. Thales is proud to put its technological, human and industrial know-how at the service of Institut Curie's researchers. Within less than three years, the Group will install a high-energy Flash irradiator, the only one of its kind in the world. The exceptional level of mobilization demonstrated by the teams meets the highly demanding technical expectations of Flash radiotherapy research," declares Patrice Caine, President and CEO of Thales.
"The CEA is proud to bring its expertise in radiation protection, particle physics and innovative technologies to the FRATHEA project. Together with Institut Curie and Thales, we are contributing to the design and development of a unique platform in the world, opening new perspectives for the most complex cancers. This partnership illustrates our commitment to accelerating technological innovation at the service of oncology, while guaranteeing the highest standards of safety and performance for patients," declares Anne-Isabelle Etienvre, General Administrator of the CEA.
Alexandra Dublanche, Vice-President of the Ile-de-France Region in charge of Revival, Attractiveness, EconomicDevelopment, and Innovation states: "By supporting the most innovative projects, from research to marketing, and by investing in structuring devices such as the "Great Innovation Venues", real collaborative ecosystems, the Ile-de-France Region accelerates the emergence of tomorrow's solutions. Thus, we make innovation in health a strategic lever for health sovereignty, economic competitiveness, and care pathway enhancement. This is the whole point of the FRATHEA project, funded by the Region to the tune of 2 million euros."
Discover the FRATHEA project in pictures: FRATHEA: the new era of Flash radiotherapy opens at Institut Curie - YouTube
©ImagesAltourProduction
Meeting technological challenges to make FLASH a clinical reality
Thales, world leader in high technology, has been selected to ensure the construction, assembly and installation of the FLASH-VHEE irradiator on the Orsay historical site of Institut Curie by 2027, following a call for tenders launched in 2025. The ultra-advanced FRATHEA equipment will be installed in a bunker currently being built at the heart of the proton therapy center. These facilities, carried out in collaboration with CEA teams, will bring together the technical and regulatory conditions required for the installation of the irradiator, particularly in terms of safety.
The 2026-2027 action plan
The preclinical implementation of these very high-energy electron beams, of unprecedented intensity and speed, poses important technological challenges.
In collaboration with the Thales teams, the researchers and clinicians of Institut Curie will deploy a two-year action plan that meets rigorous specifications:
- 2026 - Research and Development: definition and optimization of the irradiator’s technical specifications.
- 2026-2027 - Industrial development and infrastructure: design and manufacture of the FLASH-VHEE irradiator, and layout of the bunker which will host the prototype.
- 2027 - Installation and testing: installation of the irradiator, technical validation and demonstration of its safety with the regulatory authorities (ASNR).
Simultaneously, teams from Institut Curie and the CEA are already conducting work in dosimetry, physics, radiation protection, and radiobiology to prepare future FLASH-VHEE treatment regimens. These research are accompanied by simulations, as well as the development of innovative instrumentation and sensors, particularly an ambient dosimetry probe, capable of measuring very high intensity and ultra-fast beams, essential for mastering this technology.
Additionally, the CEA is conducting work on beam monitoring to characterize its shape and calibrate the delivered dose.
New preclinical studies* have confirmed the effectiveness of FLASH irradiation on tumor samples. Once the irradiator is installed and approved, the next phase will consist in validating these results. At the same time, the necessary regulatory steps will be taken to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the technology, prior to the launch of clinical trials in patients.
*Sparing effects of FLASH irradiation in patient-derived lung tissue, Dubail M. et al., Radiotherapy and Oncology, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2025.111126
"Over the past year, the teams have been implementing this major project, and today we have reached a new milestone alongside the Thales teams, mobilizing all our skills to achieve a technological feat: invent state-of-the-art instrumentation, understand the physical and biological phenomena induced by the FLASH effect and utilize them to the best of our ability. This progress will pave the way towards the treatment of the most at-risk and most difficult-to-access cancers," declares Prof. Gilles Créhange, Head of the Radiotherapy-Oncology Department at Institut Curie and coordinator of the FRATHEA project.
Clinical trials opening by 2029
Once the FRATHEA project is completed, Institut Curie will have an experimental platform open to various academic or private partners. It will bring together state-of-the-art equipment, biological models and technological tools in order to accelerate the development phases and clinical trials for all types of oncology treatments. Lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, brain tumors, pediatric, re-irradiation: the first therapeutic targets for FLASH-VHEE will be cancers for which no or little therapeutic progress has been observed for several years.
“The progress of the FRATHEA project reflects the innovation dynamic of Institut Curie, particularly in radiotherapy, a field for which we are currently deploying an investment strategy of €56 million over six years,” declares Prof. Steven Le Gouill, Director of the Hospital Group of Institut Curie. “New horizons and immense hope are opening up for the treatment of thousands of patients suffering from hard-to-treat cancers.”
FLASH radiotherapy, a discovery made in Curie
It was in 2014, in the laboratories of Institut Curie, that Dr. Vincent Favaudon discovered the FLASH effect : very intense rays delivered in less than a second destroy tumor cells and spare healthy tissues. Current techniques, based on the use of low-energy electrons or protons, demonstrate high efficacy for skin treatments but do not reach deep-seated tumors.
To overcome this technological barrier, Institut Curie bet on combining FLASH with very high-energy electron (VHEE) radiotherapy. These VHEE beams, with an energy range of 100 to 200 mega-electronvolts (MeV) compared to just 10 MeV in conventional radiotherapy, offer significant physical and biological advantages for treating deep-seated tumors.
[1] See press release dated January 28, 2025: The new era of FLASH radiotherapy opens at Institut Curie
[2]€35 million obtained as part of the Health Innovation 2030 plan, France 2030 health component and €2 million in 2023 from the Ile-de-France Region under its Major Innovation Hubs (GLI) initiative. This GLI mechanism supports the emergence of R&D and experimentation platforms, test benches or shared industrial lines, incubators, and accelerators—all infrastructures instrumental to technology transfer, collaborative R&D, and innovation among economic stakeholders in the Île-de-France region.
