Today Pfizer (PFE) announced that it would acquire Anacor Pharmaceuticals (ANAC) for $5.2 billion. In other words Pfizer is buying the company for $99.25 per share. At the time of the announcement, ANAC was trading in the mid-$60s. Pfizer bought the company for its main drug candidate known as crisaborole, which is a non-steroid type topical gel. It is currently under review by the FDA for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis — eczema. 

The PDUFA date when the FDA will decide whether or not to approve crisaborole is January 7, 2017. Considering the strong safety and efficacy profile of the drug it should have no problem receiving FDA approval. Pfizer probably had a good reason to buy Anacor. That reason? It predicts that crisaborole in the eczema indication could command up to $2 billion sales annually. 

That would mean that in about two years’ time, Pfizer could make back close to its initial investment of $5.2 billion. If all goes well the acquisition is set to complete around the 3rd quarter of 2016. One key item to note is that this probably won’t be Pfizer’s last acquisition. This acquisition was a small one compared to two other big acquisitions that  fell through. Two big companies Pfizer tried to acquire were Astrazeneca (AZN) and Allergan (AGN).