-Interventional radiology practice becomes first office-based lab to adopt the LIBERTY endovascular robot
An outpatient IR group in California has ordered up to a year’s supply of Microbot’s single-use robotic catheter system.
Microbot Medical said on Oct. 27 that ELMNT IR, a multisite outpatient interventional radiology practice in California, has signed an order for up to a 12-month supply of LIBERTY devices, which the company calls its first office-based lab customer anywhere [1]. Practice co-founder Jonathan Steinberger, MD, has used the robot for Y-90 mapping, prostate artery embolization and genicular artery embolization [1]. Microbot describes LIBERTY as the only FDA-cleared single-use, remotely operated robotic system for peripheral endovascular procedures; the announcement is a company release and gives no pricing or revenue figures [1].
-China grants the first approval anywhere for a Factor XIa inhibitor
Bayer’s asundexian is authorized in China to reduce stroke risk after a non-cardioembolic ischemic stroke or high-risk TIA.
Bayer said on Oct. 26 that China’s National Medical Products Administration granted marketing authorization, after a priority review, for once-daily asundexian 50 mg (Sunharbo), which the company calls the first FXIa inhibitor approved worldwide [2]. The decision rests on the 12,327-participant Phase III OCEANIC-STROKE trial, published in NEJM, in which asundexian reduced ischemic stroke by 26% compared with single or dual antiplatelet therapy alone, with a similar incidence of all bleeding events [2]. Applications in other markets are under review, Bayer said [2].
-Divarasib beats sotorasib and adagrasib in phase 3 KRAS G12C lung cancer trial
Krascendo 1, presented at ESMO and published in NEJM, shows longer survival with Roche’s next-generation inhibitor.
Among 338 patients with previously treated KRAS G12C-mutated advanced non-small cell lung cancer, divarasib extended median overall survival to 17.7 months versus 12.0 months with sotorasib or adagrasib (HR 0.56), and median progression-free survival to 9.8 versus 5.7 months (HR 0.58) [3][4]. Confirmed response rates were 58% versus 32%, and fewer patients stopped treatment for drug-related adverse events (4.8% vs 11.7%) [3]. The open-label trial, led by MD Anderson’s Ferdinandos Skoulidis, MD, PhD, excluded patients with untreated brain metastases and had a small adagrasib control group [4].
-Ebola outbreak nears 10,000 cases as Nigeria’s only patient is evacuated to Switzerland
CDC counts 9,995 confirmed cases and 4,845 confirmed deaths, nearly all in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
CDC’s Oct. 24 update lists 9,995 confirmed cases of Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus and 4,845 confirmed deaths, with cases recorded in the DRC, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and France, and calls it the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record [5]. Nigeria’s single confirmed patient, a 42-year-old Swiss citizen believed to have been infected in Uganda, was flown from Abuja to Switzerland on Oct. 26; Nigeria has identified 53 contacts [6]. Under a CDC order, after Nov. 3 all passengers boarding international flights to the US must attest they were not in the DRC in the preceding 21 days [5].
Digest references
Microbot Medical, “Microbot Medical Secures its First Office-Based Lab (OBL) Customer for the LIBERTY Endovascular Robotic System,” GlobeNewswire, Oct. 27, 2026. globenewswire.com
Bayer AG, “Asundexian first Factor XIa inhibitor approved in China for stroke risk reduction after priority review,” Bayer media release, Oct. 26, 2026. bayer.com
Roche, “Roche’s divarasib demonstrated best-in-class efficacy, advancing the standard of care in previously treated KRAS G12C-mutated lung cancer,” Roche media release, Oct. 25, 2026. roche.com
MD Anderson Cancer Center, “ESMO 2026: New targeted therapy improved survival for patients with KRAS-mutated lung cancer,” MD Anderson Newsroom, Oct. 25, 2026. mdanderson.org
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Ebola Outbreak: Current Situation,” CDC, updated Oct. 24, 2026. cdc.gov
Marta Iraola Iribarren, “Ebola: Uganda restricts travel as Nigerian case evacuated to Europe,” Euronews, Oct. 26, 2026. euronews.com
