[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 22 (Thursday, February 2, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5669-5670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1365]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket Nos. 2005E-0258, 2005E-0247, and 2005E-0233]


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

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 OMACOR and is publishing this notice of 
that determination as required by law. FDA has made the determination 
because of the submission of three applications to the Director of 
Patents and Trademarks, Department of Commerce, for the extension of 
three patents that claim 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://www.fda.gov/dockets/ecomments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Claudia V. Grillo, Office of 
Regulatory Policy (HFD-013), Food and Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, 240-453-6681.

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 OMACOR 
(omega-3-acid ethyl esters). OMACOR is indicated as an adjunct to diet 
to reduce very high (= 500 milligrams per deciliter) triglyceride 
levels in adult patients. Subsequent to this approval, the Patent and 
Trademark Office received three patent term restoration applications 
for OMACOR (U.S. Patent Nos. 5,656,667, 5,698,594, and 5,502,077) from 
Pronova Biocare AS, and the Patent and Trademark Office requested FDA's 
assistance in determining these patents' eligibility for patent term 
restoration. In a letter dated July 8, 2005, FDA advised the Patent and 
Trademark Office that this human drug product had undergone a 
regulatory review period and that the approval of OMACOR 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 
OMACOR is 3,712 days. Of this time, 3,408 days occurred during the 
testing phase of the regulatory review period, while 304 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: 
September 14, 1994. The applicant claims August 15, 1994, as the date 
the investigational new drug application (IND) became effective. 
However, FDA records indicate that the IND effective date was September 
14, 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 of the act: January 12, 2004. 
FDA has verified the applicant's claim that the new drug application 
(NDA) for OMACOR (NDA 21-654) was initially submitted on January 12, 
2004.
    3. The date the application was approved: November 10, 2004. FDA 
has verified the applicant's claim that NDA

[[Page 5670]]

21-654 was approved on November 10, 2004.
    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 
applications for patent extension, this applicant seeks 1,477 (U.S. 
Patent No. 5,656,667), 1,413 (U.S. Patent No. 5,698,594), and 1,728 
(U.S. Patent No. 5,502,077) 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 or electronic comments and ask for a redetermination 
by April 3, 2006. 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 August 1, 
2006. 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: January 5, 2006.
Jane A. Axelrad,
Associate Director for Policy, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
[FR Doc. E6-1365 Filed 2-1-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-S