[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 94 (Wednesday, May 14, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27838-27839]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-10689]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2007-E-0278] (formerly Docket No. 2007E-0143)


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

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 ZOLINZA 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 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.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 drug products, the 
testing phase begins when the exemption to permit the clinical 
investigations of the human drug product 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 ZOLINZA 
(vorinostat). ZOLINZA is indicated for the treatment of cutaneous 
manifestations in patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma who have 
progressive, persistent or recurrent disease on or following two 
systemic therapies. Subsequent to this approval, the Patent and 
Trademark Office received a patent term restoration application for 
ZOLINZA (U.S. Patent No. RE38506 E) from Sloan-Kettering Institute for 
Cancer Research, and the Patent and Trademark Office requested FDA's 
assistance in determining this patent's eligibility for patent term 
restoration. In a letter dated May 16, 2007, FDA advised the Patent and 
Trademark Office that this human drug product had undergone a 
regulatory review period and that the approval of ZOLINZA 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 
ZOLINZA is 2,449 days. Of this time, 2,266 days occurred during the 
testing

[[Page 27839]]

phase of the regulatory review period, while 183 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: 
January 24, 2000. The applicant claims October 2, 1999, as the date the 
investigational new drug application (IND) became effective. However, 
FDA records indicate that the IND effective date was January 24, 2000, 
which was the date the IND was removed from clinical hold.
    2. The date the application was initially submitted with respect to 
the human drug product under section 505(b) of the act: April 7, 2006. 
The applicant claims December 6, 2005, as the date the new drug 
application (NDA) for ZOLINZA (NDA 21-991) was initially submitted. 
However, FDA records indicate that NDA 21-991 was submitted in several 
modules under the fast track drug development program. It is FDA's 
position that the approval phase begins when the marketing application 
is complete for review. The final module of the NDA making it complete 
for review was submitted on April 7, 2006.
    3. The date the application was approved: October 6, 2006. FDA has 
verified the applicant's claim that NDA 21-991 was approved on October 
6, 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, this applicant seeks 1,433 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 July 14, 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 November 10, 
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 
through FDMS only.

    Dated: April 28, 2008.
Jane A. Axelrad,
Associate Director for Policy, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
[FR Doc. E8-10689 Filed 5-13-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-S