73 FR 113 pgs. 33095-33096 - Determination of Regulatory Review Period for Purposes of Patent Extension; ROTATEQ
Type: NOTICEVolume: 73Number: 113Pages: 33095 - 33096
Docket number: [Docket No. FDA-2006-E-0130] (formerly Docket No. 2006E-0486)
FR document: [FR Doc. E8-13109 Filed 6-10-08; 8:45 am]
Agency: Health and Human Services Department
Sub Agency: Food and Drug Administration
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Food and Drug Administration
[Docket No. FDA-2006-E-0130] (formerly Docket No. 2006E-0486)
Determination of Regulatory Review Period for Purposes of Patent Extension; ROTATEQ
AGENCY:
Food and Drug Administration, HHS.
ACTION:
Notice.
SUMMARY:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined the regulatory review period for ROTATEQ 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 which claims that human biological product.
ADDRESSES:
Submit written or electronic 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://www.regulations.gov .
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Beverly Friedman, Office of Regulatory Policy, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 51, rm. 6222, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 301-796-3602.
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 biological products, the testing phase begins when the exemption to permit the clinical investigations of the biological becomes effective and runs until the approval phase begins. The approval phase starts with the initial submission of an application to market the human biological product and continues until FDA grants permission to market the biological 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 biological product will include all of the testing phase and approval phase as specified in 35 U.S.C. 156(g)(1)(B).
FDA approved for marketing the human biologic product ROTATEQ (Rotavirus Vaccine, Live, Oral, Pentavalent). ROTATEQ is indicated for the prevention of rotavirus gastroenteritis in infants and children caused by the serotypes G1, G2, G3, and G4, when administered as a 3-dose series to infants between the ages of 6 to 32 weeks. Subsequent to this approval, the Patent and Trademark Office received a patent term restoration application for ROTATEQ (U.S. Patent No. 5,626,851) from the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Patent and Trademark Office requested FDA's assistance in determining this patent's eligibility for patent term restoration. In a letter dated February 28, 2007, FDA advised the Patent and Trademark Office that this human biological product had undergone a regulatory review period and that the approval of ROTATEQ 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 ROTATEQ is 4,577 days. Of this time, 4,272 days occurred during the testing phase of the regulatory review period, while 305 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 : July 26, 1993. The applicants claim June 18, 1993, as the date the investigational new drug application (IND) became effective. However, FDA records indicate that the IND effective date was July 26, 1993, when the IND was removed from clinical hold and studies in humans could proceed.
2. The date the application was initially submitted with respect to the human biological product under section 351 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262) : April 5, 2005. FDA has verified the applicants' claim that the biologics license application (BLA) for ROTATEQ (BLA 125122) was initially submitted on April 5, 2005.
3. The date the application was approved : February 3, 2006. FDA has verified the applicants' claim that BLA 125122 was approved on February 3, 2006.
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, these applicants seek 1,751 days of patent term extension.
Anyone with knowledge that any of the dates as published are incorrect may submit to the Division of Dockets Management (see ADDRESSES ) written or electronic comments and ask for a redetermination by August 11, 2008. 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 December 8, 2008. 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.
Please note that on January 15, 2008, the FDA Division of Dockets Management Web site transitioned to the Federal Dockets Management System (FDMS). FDMS is a Government-wide, electronic docket management system. Electronic comments or submissions will be accepted by FDA only through FDMS at http://www.regulations.gov .
Dated: May 21, 2008.
Jane A. Axelrad,
Associate Director for Policy, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
[FR Doc. E8-13109 Filed 6-10-08; 8:45 am]
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