[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 211 (Tuesday, November 1, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75824-75826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-26322]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2013-N-1393]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Patent Term Restoration, Due Diligence Petitions, 
Filing, Format, and Content of Petitions

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing an 
opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain 
information by the Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(the PRA), Federal Agencies are required to publish notice in the 
Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, 
including each proposed extension of an existing collection of 
information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the 
notice. This notice solicits comments on Patent Term Restoration, Due 
Diligence Petitions, Filing, Format, and Content of Petitions.

DATES: Submit either electronic or written comments on the collection 
of information by January 3, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments as follows:

Electronic Submissions

    Submit electronic comments in the following way:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments, to http://www.regulations.gov 
will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be 
made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment 
does not include any confidential information that you or a

[[Page 75825]]

third party may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, 
your or anyone else's Social Security number, or confidential business 
information, such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you 
include your name, contact information, or other information that 
identifies you in the body of your comments, that information will be 
posted on http://www.regulations.gov.
     If you want to submit a comment with confidential 
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, 
submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner 
detailed (see ``Written/Paper Submissions'' and ``Instructions'').

Written/Paper Submissions

    Submit written/paper submissions as follows:
     Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for written/paper 
submissions): Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
     For written/paper comments submitted to the Division of 
Dockets Management, FDA will post your comment, as well as any 
attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, 
as confidential, if submitted as detailed in ``Instructions.''
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. 
FDA-2013-N-1393 for ``Agency Information Collection Activities; 
Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Patent Term Restoration, Due 
Diligence Petitions, Filing, Format, and Content of Petitions.'' 
Received comments will be placed in the docket and, except for those 
submitted as ``Confidential Submissions,'' publicly viewable at http://www.regulations.gov or at the Division of Dockets Management between 9 
a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
     Confidential Submissions--To submit a comment with 
confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly 
available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You 
should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information 
you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states 
``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.'' The Agency will 
review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in 
its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the 
claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be 
available for public viewing and posted on http://www.regulations.gov. 
Submit both copies to the Division of Dockets Management. If you do not 
wish your name and contact information to be made publicly available, 
you can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body 
of your comments and you must identify this information as 
``confidential.'' Any information marked as ``confidential'' will not 
be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other 
applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of 
comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or 
access the information at: http://www.fda.gov/regulatoryinformation/dockets/default.htm.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in 
the heading of this document, into the ``Search'' box and follow the 
prompts and/or go to the Division of Dockets Management, 5630 Fishers 
Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FDA PRA Staff, Office of Operations, 
Food and Drug Administration, Three White Flint North, 11601 Landsdown 
Street, 10A63, North Bethesda, MD 20852, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal 
Agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. 
``Collection of information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 
1320.3(c) and includes Agency requests or requirements that members of 
the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a 
third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) 
requires Federal Agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal 
Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including 
each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, 
before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with 
this requirement, FDA is publishing notice of the proposed collection 
of information set forth in this document.
    With respect to the following collection of information, FDA 
invites comments on these topics: (1) Whether the proposed collection 
of information is necessary for the proper performance of FDA's 
functions, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of FDA's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques, when 
appropriate, and other forms of information technology.

Patent Term Restoration, Due Diligence Petitions, Filing, Format, and 
Content of Petitions--21 CFR Part 60--OMB Control Number 0910-0233--
Extension

    FDA's patent extension activities are conducted under the authority 
of the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 
(21 U.S.C. 355(j)) and the Generic Animal Drug and Patent Term 
Restoration Act of 1988 (35 U.S.C. 156). New human drug, animal drug, 
human biological, medical device, food additive, or color additive 
products regulated by the FDA must undergo FDA safety, or safety and 
effectiveness review before marketing is permitted. Where the product 
is covered by a patent, part of the patent's term may be consumed 
during this review, which diminishes the value of the patent. In 
enacting the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 
1984 and the Generic Animal Drug and Patent Term Restoration Act of 
1988, Congress sought to encourage development of new, safer, and more 
effective medical and food additive products. It did so by authorizing 
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to extend the patent term 
by a portion of the time during which FDA's safety and effectiveness 
review prevented marketing of the product. The length of the patent 
term extension is generally limited to a maximum of 5 years, and is 
calculated by USPTO based on a statutory formula. When a patent holder 
submits an application for patent term extension to USPTO, USPTO 
requests information from FDA, including the length of the regulatory 
review period for the patented product. If USPTO concludes that the 
product is eligible for patent term extension, FDA publishes a notice 
that describes the length of the regulatory review period and the dates 
used to calculate that period. Interested parties may request, under 
Sec.  60.24 (21 CFR 60.24), revision of the length of the regulatory 
review period, or may petition under Sec.  60.30 (21 CFR 60.30) to 
reduce the regulatory review period by any time where marketing 
approval was not pursued with ``due diligence.''
    The statute defines due diligence as ``that degree of attention, 
continuous directed effort, and timeliness'' as may

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reasonably be expected from, and are ordinarily exercised by, a person 
during a regulatory review period. As provided in Sec.  60.30(c), a due 
diligence petition ``shall set forth sufficient facts, including dates 
if possible, to merit an investigation by FDA of whether the applicant 
acted with due diligence.'' Upon receipt of a due diligence petition, 
FDA reviews the petition and evaluates whether any change in the 
regulatory review period if necessary. If so, the corrected regulatory 
review period is published in the Federal Register. A due diligence 
petitioner not satisfied with FDA's decision regarding the petition 
may, under Sec.  60.40 (21 CFR 60.40), request an informal hearing for 
reconsideration of the due diligence determination. Petitioners are 
likely to include persons or organizations having knowledge that FDA's 
marketing permission for that product was not actively pursued 
throughout the regulatory review period. The information collection for 
which an extension of approval is being sought is the use of the 
statutorily created due diligence petition.
    Since 1992, 20 requests for revision of the regulatory review 
period have been submitted under Sec.  60.24(a). For 2013, 2014 and 
2015, a total of 5 requests have been submitted under Sec.  60.24(a). 
During that same time period, there have been no requests under 
Sec. Sec.  60.30 and 60.40; however, for purposes of this information 
collection approval, we are estimating that we may receive one 
submission annually.
    FDA estimates the burden of this collection of information as 
follows:

                                 Table 1--Estimated Annual Recordkeeping Burden1
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                                                     Number of                        Average
         21 CFR Section              Number of      records per    Total annual     burden per      Total hours
                                   recordkeepers   recordkeeper       records      recordkeeping
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60.24(a)........................               3            1.66               5             100             500
60.30...........................               1               1               1              50              50
60.40...........................               1               1               1              10              10
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    Total.......................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............             560
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\1\ There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of
  information.


    Dated: October 27, 2016.
Leslie Kux,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2016-26322 Filed 10-31-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4164-01-P