Terumo Neuro Agrees to Acquire Arsenal Medical, Developer of NeoCast Liquid Embolic

Terumo Neuro, the neurovascular subsidiary of Japan's Terumo Corporation, has signed an agreement to acquire Arsenal Medical, the developer of the NeoCast liquid embolic technology for chronic subdural hematoma, Endovascular Today reported on Oct. 1, citing Terumo Neuro's press release.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, and the proposed transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, according to the release as reported by Endovascular Today. Terumo Neuro said the deal, once completed, would expand its liquid embolic portfolio and advance its strategy to provide differentiated neurovascular technologies.

What Terumo is buying

According to Terumo Neuro, NeoCast is a solvent-free, nonadhesive biomaterial intended for embolization of the middle meningeal artery. It is an investigational device and is not approved for commercial sale in the United States, the company said.

Arsenal Medical describes NeoCast on its product page as a solvent-free, injectable liquid embolic that sets within minutes into an elastomeric solid. The company describes a chronic subdural hematoma as persistent bleeding that accumulates on the brain's surface, often after a fall or head trauma, and says middle meningeal artery embolization blocks blood flow within the artery and branching vessels that supply the hematoma. Arsenal says the procedure "is emerging as an alternative or adjunct modality to conventional surgery to treat and prevent cSDH recurrence," and that it is also exploring the material for pre-operative embolization of hypervascular brain tumors.

Arsenal has taken NeoCast through first-in-human clinical experience in its EMBO-02 study, and late-breaking results from that study were presented in July at the 23rd annual meeting of the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery, according to Endovascular Today. Terumo Neuro said the EMBO-02 findings are preliminary.

The pivotal trial

In May, Arsenal announced FDA investigational device exemption approval for RADIANT, a prospective, randomized, multicenter pivotal study comparing NeoCast with Medtronic's Onyx liquid embolic system for symptomatic subacute and chronic subdural hematoma, used alongside surgery. Enrollment in the trial has begun, Terumo Neuro said, as reported by Endovascular Today.

"As MMA embolization emerges as an important new treatment option, this purpose-developed, next-generation liquid embolic technology has the potential to make a meaningful impact for physicians and patients, while supporting our mission to preserve and restore brain health," Terumo Neuro Chief Executive Carsten Schroeder said in the release, as quoted by Endovascular Today.

Besides NeoCast, Arsenal Medical's website lists a second product, ResQFoam, which is being evaluated for life-threatening abdominal bleeding.