May 2016

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANAC) today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Pfizer will acquire Anacor for $99.25 per Anacor share, in cash, for a total transaction value, net of cash, of approximately $5.2 billion, which assumes the conversion of Anacor’s outstanding convertible notes. The Boards of Directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction. Anacor’s flagship asset, crisaborole, a differentiated non-steroidal topical PDE4 inhibitor with anti-inflammatory properties, is currently under review by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis, commonly referred to as eczema.

Combining radiation treatments with a new generation of immunotherapies is showing promise as a one-two-punch against melanoma, Loyola Medicine researchers report in the Journal of Radiation Oncology.Radiation kills cancer cells by damaging their DNA. Immunotherapies work by harnessing a patient's immune system to attack and kill cancer cells. When combined, the two therapies appear to have synergistic effects, according to the article by James S. Welsh, MD and colleagues.

A type of brain cell known as microglia plays a key role in reducing the effects of cocaine in the brain, according to a major study by a team from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) in Montreal.

Using gene editing technology, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University have, for the first time, successfully excised a segment of HIV-1 DNA - the virus responsible for AIDS - from the genomes of living animals. The breakthrough, described online this month in the journal Gene Therapy, is a critical step in the development of a potentially curative strategy for HIV infection.

The discovery of penicillin has led to a sharp decline of syphilis around the world, except in Africa. In a new study, Prof. Chris Kenyon of the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) describes the different rates of decline of syphilis around the world. This week the European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) also published its latest figures on syphilis in Europe.

Profound Medical Corp. announced that it has been granted Investigational Device Exemption (“IDE”) approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), for a multicenter Pivotal Clinical Trial (“Pivotal Trial”). The objective of this trial is to evaluate the efficacy of the TULSA-PROTM System in patients with localized prostate cancer.