Determination of Regulatory Review Period for Purposes of Patent Extension; FemaraRegister

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. 98E-0611]

Determination of Regulatory Review Period for Purposes of Patent

Extension; Femara

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 Femara and is publishing this

notice

[[Page 25047]]

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, 5630

Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian J. Malkin, Office of Health

Affairs (HFY-20), Food and Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane,

Rockville, MD 20857, 301-827-6620.

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

Femara (letrozole). Femara is indicated for the

treatment of advanced breast cancer in postmenopausal women with

disease progression following antiestrogen therapy. Subsequent to this

approval, the Patent and Trademark Office received a patent term

restoration application for Femara (U.S. Patent No.

4,978,672) from Novartis Corp., and the Patent and Trademark Office

requested FDA's assistance in determining this patent's eligibility for

patent term restoration. In a letter dated December 16, 1998, FDA

advised the Patent and Trademark Office that this human drug product

had undergone a regulatory review period and that the approval of

Femara 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 Femara is 2,160 days. Of this time, 1,794 days occurred

during the testing phase of the regulatory review period, while 366

days occurred during the approval phase. These periods of time were

derived from the following dates:

1. The date an exemption under section 505 of the Federal Food,

Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the act) (21 U.S.C. 355) became effective:

August 28, 1991. FDA has verified the applicant's claim that the date

the investigational new drug application became effective was on August

28, 1991.

2. The date the application was initially submitted with respect

to the human drug product under section 505 of the act: July 25, 1996.

FDA has verified the applicant's claim that the new drug application

(NDA) for Femara (NDA 20-726) was initially submitted on July

25, 1996.

3. The date the application was approved: July 25, 1997. FDA has

verified the applicant's claim that NDA 20-726 was approved on July 25,

1997.

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 1,232 days of

patent term extension.

Anyone with knowledge that any of the dates as published is

incorrect may, on or before July 9, 1999, 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 8, 1999, 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 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: April 29, 1999.

Thomas J. McGinnis,

Deputy Associate Commissioner for Health Affairs.

[FR Doc. 99-11584 Filed 5-7-99; 8:45 am]

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