[Federal Register: December 3, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 232)]
[Notices]
[Page 67678-67679]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03de03-64]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Food and Drug Administration
[Docket No. 2003E-0261]
Determination of Regulatory Review Period for Purposes of Patent
Extension; STRATTERA
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 STRATTERA 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 Director of Patents
and Trademarks, Department of Commerce, for the extension of a patent
that claims that human drug product.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and petitions to the Division of
Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630
Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. Submit electronic comments
to http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.fda.gov/dockets/ecomments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Claudia V. Grillo, Office of
Regulatory Policy (HFD-013), Food and Drug
[[Page 67679]]
Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, 240-453-6699.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term
Restoration Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-417) and the Generic Animal Drug
and Patent Term Restoration Act (Public Law 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 Director 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
STRATTERA (atomoxetine hydrochloride). STRATTERA is indicated for the
treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Subsequent to
this approval, the Patent and Trademark Office received a patent term
restoration application for STRATTERA (U.S. Patent No. 5,658,590,) from
Eli Lilly & Co., and the Patent and Trademark Office requested FDA's
assistance in determining this patent's eligibility for patent term
restoration. In a letter dated July 16, 2003, FDA advised the Patent
and Trademark Office that this human drug product had undergone a
regulatory review period and that the approval of STRATTERA represented
the first permitted commercial marketing or use of the product.
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
STRATTERA is 7,718 days. Of this time, 7,307 days occurred during the
testing phase of the regulatory review period, while 411 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 (the act) (21 U.S.C. 355(i)) became effective:
October 11, 1981. FDA has verified the applicant's claim that the date
the investigational new drug application became effective was on
October 11, 1981.
2. The date the application was initially submitted with respect to
the human drug product under section 505(b) of the act: October 12,
2001. FDA has verified the applicant's claim that the new drug
application (NDA) for STRATTERA (NDA 21-411) was initially submitted on
October 12, 2001.
3. The date the application was approved: November 26, 2002. FDA
has verified the applicant's claim that NDA 21-411 was approved on
November 26, 2002.
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 685 days of
patent term extension.
Anyone with knowledge that any of the dates as published is
incorrect may submit to the Division of Dockets Management (see
ADDRESSES) written comments and ask for a redetermination by February
2, 2004. Furthermore, any interested person may petition FDA for a
determination regarding whether the applicant for extension acted with
due diligence during the regulatory review period by June 1, 2004. 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 Division of
Dockets Management. Three copies of any mailed information are to be
submitted, except that individuals may submit one copy. Comments are to
be identified with the docket number found in brackets in the heading
of this document. Comments and petitions may be seen in the Division of
Dockets Management between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Dated: October 30, 2003.
Jane A. Axelrad,
Associate Director for Policy, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
[FR Doc. 03-30028 Filed 12-2-03; 8:45 am]
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