--- title: 'Morning Brief — Thursday, October 1, 2026' type: 'episode' url: 'https://doc.social/episodes/morning-brief-2026-10-01' show: 'doc social Morning Brief' show_url: 'https://doc.social/podcasts/morning-brief' published: '2026-10-01' audio: 'https://media.doc.social/podcasts/morning-brief/2026-10-01.mp3' --- # Morning Brief — Thursday, October 1, 2026 Terumo Neuro signs to acquire Arsenal Medical and its investigational NeoCast liquid embolic for middle meningeal artery embolization, now in a pivotal trial head to head against Onyx · Sharp HealthCare becomes a strategic equity partner in the DISC Surgery Center at Carlsbad, a spine-heavy ASC, three months after taking over Tri-City Medical Center · Two rib fixation entrants in one week: Chest… ## Summary 4 stories this morning, for surgeons and the people who support them. - **Terumo Neuro signs to acquire Arsenal Medical and its investigational NeoCast liquid embolic for middle meningeal artery embolization, now in a pivotal trial head to head against Onyx** — Terumo Neuro release, September 30, 2026: agreement to acquire Arsenal Medical (founded by Robert Langer, George Whitesides and Carmichael Roberts; CEO Upma Sharma), terms undisclosed, subject to customary closing conditions. NeoCast is an investigational solvent-free, non-adhesive liquid embolic for MMA embolization in subacute/chronic SDH. EMBO-02 first-in-human (24 subjects): 96% at least 50% hematoma volume reduction, 75% complete resolution at final follow-up. RADIANT pivotal RCT under FDA IDE compares NeoCast vs Onyx LES as adjunct to surgery; first patients enrolled. Second sources: Terumo corporate release (https://www.terumo.com/newsrelease/detail/20260930/7171), MassDevice and MDDI coverage. Context: Onyx carries a US cSDH MMA indication (Medtronic cites 'our Onyx approval for cSDH last year'; Onyx 12 approved Aug 5, 2026, https://news.medtronic.com/2026-08-05-Medtronic-announces-US-FDA-approval-for-OnyxTM-12-Liquid-Embolic-System,-with-shorter-prep-time); J&J TRUFILL n-BCA approved Dec 18, 2025 on MEMBRANE (https://practicalneurology.com/news/fda-approval-expands-middle-meningeal-artery-embolization-options-for-chronic-subdural-hematoma/2485046/); Balt Squid PMA Feb 19, 2026 on STEM, treatment failure 16% vs 36% (https://www.neurologylive.com/view/bal-squid-receives-premarket-approval-patients-chronic-subdural-hematomas). MicroVention rebranded Terumo Neuro September 2024. [Source](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/09/30/3371536/0/en/terumo-neuro-signs-agreement-to-acquire-arsenal-medical-advancing-next-generation-liquid-embolic-innovation-for-treating-chronic-subdural-hematoma-csdh.html) - **Sharp HealthCare becomes a strategic equity partner in the DISC Surgery Center at Carlsbad, a spine-heavy ASC, three months after taking over Tri-City Medical Center** — TriasMD release, September 30, 2026: Sharp HealthCare is a strategic equity partner in the DISC Surgery Center at Carlsbad, now co-branded Sharp DISC Surgery Center Carlsbad; no financial terms. TriasMD (CEO Lee Levanduski) is the parent and a Chicago Pacific Founders portfolio company; Robert S. Bray Jr. is DISC founding partner. Case mix: microdiscectomy, ADR, endoscopic spine, MIS fusion, knee/hip/shoulder arthroscopy, total joints. Builds on DISC's April 2025 partnership with Tri-City Medical Center (https://orthospinenews.com/2025/04/14/disc-surgery-center-at-carlsbad-forms-strategic-partnership-with-tri-city-medical-center/). Sharp assumed operations of Tri-City July 1, 2026 after Measure H passed with 92.3% on June 2 (https://www.kpbs.org/news/health/2026/07/02/with-sharp-partnership-official-tri-city-aims-to-restart-labor-and-delivery-later-this-year). Second source: OrthoSpineNews, September 30 (https://orthospinenews.com/2026/09/30/disc-surgery-center-at-carlsbad-announces-strategic-partnership-with-sharp-healthcare/). [Source](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/disc-surgery-center-at-carlsbad-announces-strategic-partnership-with-sharp-healthcare-302893743.html) - **Two rib fixation entrants in one week: Chest Wall Innovations launches PC Fix, with an intrathoracic PEEK option, and GMReis announces 510(k) clearance for VersaLock rib and sternum plates** — Chest Wall Innovations (Hershey, PA; CEO Ken Kremer) announced commercial launch of PC Fix on September 28, 2026 after 510(k) K260411 in April 2026; PEEK and titanium, intrathoracic or extrathoracic, company calls it the first and only intrathoracic PEEK rib fixation system. Second source: ORTHOWORLD (https://www.orthoworld.com/chest-wall-innovations-launches-pc-fix-rib-fixation/). GMReis (Campinas, Brazil) VersaLock Rib and Sternum Plates System 510(k), reported September 30 (https://www.orthoworld.com/gmreis-earns-510k-for-versalock-rib-and-sternal-fixation/): straight, anatomical, Wave and T plates; +/-15 degree variable-angle locking, 2.4 mm self-drilling/self-tapping screws, 2.7 mm option, transscapular guide for posterior ribs; indications rib and sternum fractures, sternotomy fixation, sternal reconstruction. Incumbents: DePuy Synthes MatrixRIB; Zimmer Biomet RibFix Blu and intrathoracic RibFix Advantage (https://ribfixation.com/rib-fixation-overview/); Acumed RibLoc, from its 2020 acquisition of Acute Innovations (https://www.orthoworld.com/acumed-adds-acute-thoracic-products-to-its-portfolio/). [Source](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chest-wall-innovations-announces-commercial-launch-of-the-pc-fix-rib-fixation-system-302891507.html) - **NEJM publishes TRIUMPH-1: retatrutide cut weight by up to 25% at 80 weeks and reduced WOMAC knee pain 1.6 to 1.8 points more than placebo in 574 participants with knee osteoarthritis** — Jastreboff et al., TRIUMPH-1 Investigators, N Engl J Med, online September 29, 2026, doi 10.1056/NEJMoa2604169; funded by Eli Lilly; NCT05929066. Phase 3 double-blind RCT, 2,339 adults with obesity without diabetes, weekly retatrutide 4, 9 or 12 mg vs placebo for 80 weeks. Knee OA pain is a primary endpoint: the NEJM abstract lists primary outcomes (9 and 12 mg vs placebo) as percent body-weight change, WOMAC pain change in the 574-participant knee OA subgroup, and AHI change in the 243-participant OSA subgroup (PubMed 42814954, retrieved via NCBI E-utilities https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/efetch.fcgi?db=pubmed&id=42814954&rettype=abstract&retmode=text); the ClinicalTrials.gov registry lists 'Change from Baseline in WOMAC Pain Subscale Score for GOA1 Subset' as a primary outcome at week 80 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05929066); Lilly's June 6 topline says retatrutide 'met the primary endpoints' in the overarching trial and in the knee OA and OSA basket trials. Weight -17.6%, -23.7%, -25.0% vs -3.9%. Knee OA subgroup (n=574) WOMAC pain (10-point scale), hybrid estimand -3.2, -3.5, -3.6 vs -1.9 (differences -1.6 and -1.8, P<0.001); ITT -3.4, -3.9, -4.1 vs -2.5. OSA subgroup (n=243) AHI also reduced. Most common AEs gastrointestinal. Second source: HCPLive, September 29 (https://www.hcplive.com/view/retatrutide-improves-weight-loss-knee-osteoarthritis-pain-sleep-apnea-versus-placebo). Lilly topline June 6, 2026 (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lillys-triple-agonist-retatrutide-drove-substantial-improvements-in-weight-a1c-knee-osteoarthritis-pain-and-obstructive-sleep-apnea-demonstrating-its-remarkable-potential-to-treat-obesity-and-its-complications-302793169.html): AE discontinuation 4.1%, 6.9%, 11.3% vs 4.9% placebo; dysesthesia 5.1% to 12.5%. Context: STEP 9 semaglutide, NEJM 2024, WOMAC pain -41.7 vs -27.5 on 0-100 scale (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2403664); ACR 2026 OA guideline conditional recommendation for GLP-1 RAs in knee OA with obesity (covered 2026-09-15). Retatrutide is not FDA approved. [Source](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42814954/) ### Contribute to the Brief Faculty can send the show a note — a reaction to a paper, a correction, a read on a rule change — either written, which we shape for broadcast and read in the show's voice, or as a voice note under three minutes, which airs in your own voice. Send one from [Studio](https://next.doc.social/studio). Not on doc social yet? [Contribute a lecture or join the network](https://next.doc.social/contribute) — doc social is a clinical education platform for clinicians, and this show is one part of it. _Narration is synthesized. Reporting and editorial judgement are ours, and every story above links to its source._