[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 85 (Monday, May 4, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25300-25301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10337]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2014-E-0154]


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

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 NESINA 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 the U.S. 
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Department of Commerce, for the 
extension of a patent which claims that human drug product.

ADDRESSES: Submit electronic comments to http://www.regulations.gov. 
Submit written petitions (two copies are required) and written comments 
to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. 
Submit petitions electronically to http://www.regulations.gov at Docket 
No. FDA-2013-S-0610.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Friedman, Office of 
Management, Food and Drug Administration, 10001 New Hampshire Ave., 
Hillandale Bldg., Rm. 3180, Silver Spring, MD 20993, 301-796-7900.

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

[[Page 25301]]

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 USPTO 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 has approved for marketing the human drug product NESINA 
(alogliptin benzoate). NESINA is indicated as an adjunct to diet and 
exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes 
mellitus. Subsequent to this approval, the USPTO received a patent term 
restoration application for NESINA (U.S. Patent No. 8,173,663) from 
Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., and the USPTO requested FDA's assistance 
in determining this patent's eligibility for patent term restoration. 
In a letter dated May 2, 2014, FDA advised the USPTO that this human 
drug product had undergone a regulatory review period and that the 
approval of NESINA represented the first permitted commercial marketing 
or use of the product. Thereafter, the USPTO requested that FDA 
determine the product's regulatory review period.
    FDA has determined that the applicable regulatory review period for 
NESINA is 3,021 days. Of this time, 1,164 days occurred during the 
testing phase of the regulatory review period, while 1,857 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 FD&C Act) (21 U.S.C. 355(i)) became 
effective: October 20, 2004. The applicant claims October 19, 2004, as 
the date the investigational new drug application (IND) became 
effective. However, FDA records indicate that the IND effective date 
was October 20, 2004, 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(b) of the FD&C Act: December 
27, 2007. FDA has verified the applicant's claim that the new drug 
application (NDA) for NESINA (NDA 22-271) was submitted on December 27, 
2007.
    3. The date the application was approved: January 25, 2013. FDA has 
verified the applicant's claim that NDA 22-271 was approved on January 
25, 2013.
    This determination of the regulatory review period establishes the 
maximum potential length of a patent extension. However, the USPTO 
applies several statutory limitations in its calculations of the actual 
period for patent extension. In its application for patent extension, 
this applicant seeks 264 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) either electronic or written comments and ask for a 
redetermination by July 6, 2015. 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 2, 2015. 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.
    Interested persons may submit to the Division of Dockets Management 
(see ADDRESSES) electronic or written comments and written or 
electronic petitions. It is only necessary to send one set of comments. 
Identify comments with the docket number found in brackets in the 
heading of this document. If you submit a written petition, two copies 
are required. A petition submitted electronically must be submitted to 
http://www.regulations.gov, Docket No. FDA-2013-S-0610. Comments and 
petitions that have not been made publicly available on http://www.regulations.gov may be viewed in the Division of Dockets Management 
between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

    Dated: April 28, 2015.
Leslie Kux,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2015-10337 Filed 5-1-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4164-01-P