[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 103 (Thursday, May 29, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29143-29144]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-14108]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Food and Drug Administration
[Docket No. 97E-0108]
Determination of Regulatory Review Period for Purposes of Patent
Extension; PATANOLTM
AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined the
regulatory review period for PATANOLTM and is publishing
this notice of that determination as required by law. FDA has made the
determination because of the submission of an application to the
Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, Department of Commerce, for the
extension of a patent which claims that human drug product.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and petitions should be directed to the
Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration,
12420 Parklawn Dr., rm. 1-23, Rockville, MD 20857.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian J. Malkin, Office of Health
Affairs (HFY-20), Food and Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane,
Rockville, MD 20857, 301-443-1382.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term
Restoration Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-417) and the Generic Animal Drug
and Patent Term Restoration Act (Pub. L. 100-670) generally provide
that a patent may be extended for a period of up to 5 years so long as
the patented item (human drug product, animal drug product, medical
device, food additive, or color additive) was subject to regulatory
review by FDA before the item was marketed. Under these acts, a
product's regulatory review period forms the basis for determining the
amount of extension an applicant may receive.
A regulatory review period consists of two periods of time: A
testing phase and an approval phase. For human drug products, the
testing phase begins when the exemption to permit the clinical
investigations of the drug becomes effective and runs until the
approval phase begins. The approval phase starts with the initial
submission of an application to market the human drug product and
continues until FDA grants permission to market the drug product.
Although only a portion of a regulatory review period may count toward
the actual amount of extension that the Commissioner of Patents and
Trademarks may award (for example, half the testing phase must be
subtracted as well as any time that may have occurred before the patent
was issued), FDA's determination of the length of a regulatory review
period for a human drug product will include all of the testing phase
and approval phase as specified in 35 U.S.C. 156(g)(1)(B).
FDA recently approved for marketing the human drug product
PATANOLTM (olopatadine hydrochloride). PATANOLTM
is indicated for the temporary prevention of itching of the eye due to
allergic conjunctivitis. Subsequent to this approval, the Patent and
Trademark Office received a patent term restoration application for
PATANOLTM (U.S. Patent No. 5,116,863) from Alcon
Laboratories, Inc., and the Patent and Trademark Office requested FDA's
assistance in determining this patent's eligibility for patent term
restoration. In a letter dated April 1, 1997, FDA advised the Patent
and Trademark Office that this human drug product had undergone a
regulatory review period and that the approval of PATANOLTM
represented the first permitted commercial marketing or use of the
product. Shortly thereafter, the Patent and Trademark Office requested
that FDA determine the product's regulatory review period.
FDA has determined that the applicable regulatory review period for
PATANOLTM is 1,064 days. Of this time, 739 days occurred
during the testing phase of the regulatory review period, while 325
days occurred during the approval phase. These periods of time were
derived from the following dates:
1. The date an exemption under section 505(i) of the Federal Food,
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355(i)) became effective: January 21,
1994. The applicant claims January 20, 1994, as the date the
investigational new drug application (IND) became effective. However,
FDA records indicate that the IND effective date was January 21, 1994,
which was 30 days after FDA receipt of the IND.
2. The date the application was initially submitted with respect to
the human drug product under section 505(b) of the Federal Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act: January 29, 1996. FDA has verified the applicant's
claim that the new drug application (NDA) for PATANOLTM (NDA
20-688) was initially submitted on January 29, 1996.
3. The date the application was approved: December 18, 1996. FDA
has verified the applicant's claim that NDA 20-688 was approved on
December 18, 1996.
This determination of the regulatory review period establishes the
maximum potential length of a patent extension. However, the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office applies several statutory limitations in
its calculations of the actual period for patent extension. In its
application for patent extension, this applicant seeks 571 days of
patent term extension.
Anyone with knowledge that any of the dates as published is
incorrect may, on or before July 28, 1997, submit to the Dockets
Management Branch (address above) written comments and ask for a
redetermination. Furthermore, any interested person may petition FDA,
on or before November 25, 1997, for a determination regarding whether
the applicant for extension acted with due diligence during the
regulatory review period. To meet its burden, the petition must contain
sufficient facts to merit an FDA investigation. (See H. Rept. 857, part
1, 98th Cong., 2d sess., pp. 41-42, 1984.) Petitions should be in the
format specified in 21 CFR 10.30.
Comments and petitions should be submitted to the Dockets
Management
[[Page 29144]]
Branch (address above) in three copies (except that individuals may
submit single copies) and identified with the docket number found in
brackets in the heading of this document. Comments and petitions may be
seen in the Dockets Management Branch between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday
through Friday.
Dated: May 20, 1997.
Stuart L. Nightingale,
Associate Commissioner for Health Affairs.
[FR Doc. 97-14108 Filed 5-28-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-F
