Determination of Regulatory Review Period for Purposes of Patent Extension; UPTRAVI, 4219-4221 [2018-01637]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 20 / Tuesday, January 30, 2018 / Notices heading of this document, into the ‘‘Search’’ box and follow the prompts and/or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Friedman, Office of Regulatory Policy, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 51, Rm. 6250, Silver Spring, MD 20993, 301–796–3600. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES I. Background 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 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 VIEKIRA PAK (ombitasvir, paritaprevir, dasabuvir, and ritonavir). VIEKIRA PAK with or without ribavirin is indicated for the treatment of patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C virus infection including those with compensated cirrhosis. Subsequent to this approval, the USPTO received a patent term restoration application for VIEKIRA PAK (U.S. Patent No. 8,501,238) from AbbVie Inc., and the USPTO requested FDA’s assistance in determining this VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:18 Jan 29, 2018 Jkt 244001 patent’s eligibility for patent term restoration. In a letter dated May 2, 2016, FDA advised the USPTO that this human drug product had undergone a regulatory review period and that the approval of VIEKIRA PAK represented the first permitted commercial marketing or use of the product. Thereafter, the USPTO requested that FDA determine the product’s regulatory review period. II. Determination of Regulatory Review Period FDA has determined that the applicable regulatory review period for VIEKIRA PAK is 2,391 days. Of this time, 2,148 days occurred during the testing phase of the regulatory review period, while 243 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: June 4, 2008. FDA has verified the applicant’s claim that June 4, 2008, is the date the investigational new drug application (IND) became effective. 2. The date the application was initially submitted with respect to the human drug product under section 505(b) of the FD&C Act: April 21, 2014. FDA has verified the applicant’s claim that the new drug application (NDA) for VIEKIRA PAK (NDA 206619) was initially submitted on April 21, 2014. 3. The date the application was approved: December 19, 2014. FDA has verified the applicant’s claim that NDA 206619 was approved on December 19, 2014. 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 93 days of patent term extension. III. Petitions Anyone with knowledge that any of the dates as published are incorrect may submit either electronic or written comments and, under 21 CFR 60.24, ask for a redetermination (see DATES). Furthermore, as specified in § 60.30 (21 CFR 60.30), any interested person may petition FDA 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 comply with all the requirements of § 60.30, including but not limited to: PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 4219 Must be timely (see DATES), must be filed in accordance with § 10.20, must contain sufficient facts to merit an FDA investigation, and must certify that a true and complete copy of the petition has been served upon the patent applicant. (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. Submit petitions electronically to https://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FDA–2013–S–0610. Submit written petitions (two copies are required) to the Dockets Management Staff (HFA–305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. Dated: January 24, 2018. Leslie Kux, Associate Commissioner for Policy. [FR Doc. 2018–01651 Filed 1–29–18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4164–01–P DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration [Docket No. FDA–2016–E–2519] Determination of Regulatory Review Period for Purposes of Patent Extension; UPTRAVI AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS. ACTION: Notice. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) has determined the regulatory review period for UPTRAVI 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. DATES: Anyone with knowledge that any of the dates as published (see the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section) are incorrect may submit either electronic or written comments and ask for a redetermination by April 2, 2018. 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 July 30, 2018. See ‘‘Petitions’’ in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for more information. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments as follows. Please note that late, SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\30JAN1.SGM 30JAN1 4220 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 20 / Tuesday, January 30, 2018 / Notices untimely filed comments will not be considered. Electronic comments must be submitted on or before April 2, 2018. The https://www.regulations.gov electronic filing system will accept comments until midnight Eastern Time at the end of April 2, 2018. Comments received by mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/paper submissions) will be considered timely if they are postmarked or the delivery service acceptance receipt is on or before that date. daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES Electronic Submissions Submit electronic comments in the following way: • Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted electronically, including attachments, to https:// 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 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 https://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): Dockets Management Staff (HFA–305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. • For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets Management Staff, 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– 2016–E–2519 for ‘‘Determination of Regulatory Review Period for Purposes of Patent Extension; UPTRAVI.’’ Received comments, those filed in a timely manner (see ADDRESSES), will be placed in the docket and, except for VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:18 Jan 29, 2018 Jkt 244001 those submitted as ‘‘Confidential Submissions,’’ publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at the Dockets Management Staff 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 https://www.regulations.gov. Submit both copies to the Dockets Management Staff. 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 § 10.20 (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: https://www.gpo.gov/ fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/201523389.pdf. Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https:// 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 Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Friedman, Office of Regulatory Policy, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 51, Rm. 6250, Silver Spring, MD 20993, 301–796–3600. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 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 UPTRAVI (selexipag). UPTRAVI is indicated for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH, WHO Group I) to delay disease progression and reduce the risk of hospitalization for PAH. Subsequent to this approval, the USPTO received a patent term restoration application for UPTRAVI (U.S. Patent No. 7,205,302) from Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., and the USPTO requested FDA’s assistance in determining this patent’s eligibility for patent term restoration. In a letter dated November 2, 2016, FDA advised the USPTO that this human drug product had undergone a regulatory review period and that the approval of UPTRAVI represented the first permitted commercial marketing or use of the product. Thereafter, the USPTO requested that FDA determine the product’s regulatory review period. I. Background FDA has determined that the applicable regulatory review period for UPTRAVI is 2,246 days. Of this time, 1,881 days occurred during the testing phase of the regulatory review period, while 365 days occurred during the 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) PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 II. Determination of Regulatory Review Period E:\FR\FM\30JAN1.SGM 30JAN1 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 20 / Tuesday, January 30, 2018 / Notices 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 (FD&C Act) (21 U.S.C. 355(i)) became effective: October 29, 2009. FDA has verified the applicant’s claim that the date the investigational new drug application became effective was on October 29, 2009. 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 22, 2014. FDA has verified the applicant’s claim that the new drug application (NDA) for UPTRAVI (NDA 207947) was initially submitted on December 22, 2014. 3. The date the application was approved: December 21, 2015. FDA has verified the applicant’s claim that NDA 207947 was approved on December 21, 2015. 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 1,305 days of patent term extension. daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES III. Petitions Anyone with knowledge that any of the dates as published are incorrect may submit either electronic or written comments and, under 21 CFR 60.24, ask for a redetermination (see DATES). Furthermore, as specified in § 60.30 (21 CFR 60.30), any interested person may petition FDA 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 comply with all the requirements of § 60.30, including but not limited to: Must be timely (see DATES), must be filed in accordance with § 10.20, must contain sufficient facts to merit an FDA investigation, and must certify that a true and complete copy of the petition has been served upon the patent applicant. (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. Submit petitions electronically to https://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FDA–2013–S–0610. Submit written petitions (two copies are required) to the Dockets Management Staff (HFA–305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:18 Jan 29, 2018 Jkt 244001 Dated: January 24, 2018. Leslie Kux, Associate Commissioner for Policy. [FR Doc. 2018–01637 Filed 1–29–18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4164–01–P DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration [Docket Nos. FDA–2016–E–1582; FDA– 2016–E–1236] Determination of Regulatory Review Period for Purposes of Patent Extension; CRESEMBA—New Drug Aapplication 207500 AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS. ACTION: Notice. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) has determined the regulatory review period for CRESEMBA as approved under new drug application (NDA) 207500 and is publishing this notice of that determination as required by law. FDA has made the determination because of the submission of applications 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 as approved under NDA 207500. SUMMARY: Anyone with knowledge that any of the dates as published (in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section) are incorrect may submit either electronic or written comments and ask for a redetermination by April 2, 2018. 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 July 30, 2018. See ‘‘Petitions’’ in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for more information. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments as follows. Please note that late, untimely filed comments will not be considered. Electronic comments must be submitted on or before April 2, 2018. The https://www.regulations.gov electronic filing system will accept comments until midnight Eastern Time at the end of April 2, 2018. Comments received by mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/paper submissions) will be considered timely if they are postmarked or the delivery service acceptance receipt is on or before that date. DATES: PO 00000 Frm 00040 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 4221 Electronic Submissions Submit electronic comments in the following way: • Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted electronically, including attachments, to https:// 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 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 https://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): Dockets Management Staff (HFA–305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. • For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets Management Staff, 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 Nos. FDA– 2016–E–1582 and FDA–2016–E–1236 for ‘‘Determination of Regulatory Review Period for Purposes of Patent Extension; CRESEMBA—NDA 207500.’’ Received comments, those filed in a timely manner (see ADDRESSES), will be placed in the docket and, except for those submitted as ‘‘Confidential Submissions,’’ publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at the Dockets Management Staff 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 E:\FR\FM\30JAN1.SGM 30JAN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 30, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4219-4221]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01637]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2016-E-2519]


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

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) has 
determined the regulatory review period for UPTRAVI 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.

DATES: Anyone with knowledge that any of the dates as published (see 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section) are incorrect may submit either 
electronic or written comments and ask for a redetermination by April 
2, 2018. 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 July 30, 2018. See 
``Petitions'' in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for more 
information.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments as follows. Please note that late,

[[Page 4220]]

untimely filed comments will not be considered. Electronic comments 
must be submitted on or before April 2, 2018. The https://www.regulations.gov electronic filing system will accept comments until 
midnight Eastern Time at the end of April 2, 2018. Comments received by 
mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/paper submissions) will be 
considered timely if they are postmarked or the delivery service 
acceptance receipt is on or before that date.

Electronic Submissions

    Submit electronic comments in the following way:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments, to https://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 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 https://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): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
     For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets 
Management Staff, 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-2016-E-2519 for ``Determination of Regulatory Review Period for 
Purposes of Patent Extension; UPTRAVI.'' Received comments, those filed 
in a timely manner (see ADDRESSES), will be placed in the docket and, 
except for those submitted as ``Confidential Submissions,'' publicly 
viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at the Dockets Management 
Staff 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 https://www.regulations.gov. 
Submit both copies to the Dockets Management Staff. 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 Sec.  10.20 (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: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://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 Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, 
Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Friedman, Office of Regulatory 
Policy, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 
51, Rm. 6250, Silver Spring, MD 20993, 301-796-3600.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    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 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 UPTRAVI 
(selexipag). UPTRAVI is indicated for the treatment of pulmonary 
arterial hypertension (PAH, WHO Group I) to delay disease progression 
and reduce the risk of hospitalization for PAH. Subsequent to this 
approval, the USPTO received a patent term restoration application for 
UPTRAVI (U.S. Patent No. 7,205,302) from Actelion Pharmaceuticals, 
Ltd., and the USPTO requested FDA's assistance in determining this 
patent's eligibility for patent term restoration. In a letter dated 
November 2, 2016, FDA advised the USPTO that this human drug product 
had undergone a regulatory review period and that the approval of 
UPTRAVI represented the first permitted commercial marketing or use of 
the product. Thereafter, the USPTO requested that FDA determine the 
product's regulatory review period.

II. Determination of Regulatory Review Period

    FDA has determined that the applicable regulatory review period for 
UPTRAVI is 2,246 days. Of this time, 1,881 days occurred during the 
testing phase of the regulatory review period, while 365 days occurred 
during the

[[Page 4221]]

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 (FD&C Act) (21 U.S.C. 355(i)) became effective: 
October 29, 2009. FDA has verified the applicant's claim that the date 
the investigational new drug application became effective was on 
October 29, 2009.
    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 
22, 2014. FDA has verified the applicant's claim that the new drug 
application (NDA) for UPTRAVI (NDA 207947) was initially submitted on 
December 22, 2014.
    3. The date the application was approved: December 21, 2015. FDA 
has verified the applicant's claim that NDA 207947 was approved on 
December 21, 2015.
    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 1,305 days of patent term extension.

III. Petitions

    Anyone with knowledge that any of the dates as published are 
incorrect may submit either electronic or written comments and, under 
21 CFR 60.24, ask for a redetermination (see DATES). Furthermore, as 
specified in Sec.  60.30 (21 CFR 60.30), any interested person may 
petition FDA 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 comply with all the requirements 
of Sec.  60.30, including but not limited to: Must be timely (see 
DATES), must be filed in accordance with Sec.  10.20, must contain 
sufficient facts to merit an FDA investigation, and must certify that a 
true and complete copy of the petition has been served upon the patent 
applicant. (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.
    Submit petitions electronically to https://www.regulations.gov at 
Docket No. FDA-2013-S-0610. Submit written petitions (two copies are 
required) to the Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

    Dated: January 24, 2018.
Leslie Kux,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-01637 Filed 1-29-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4164-01-P
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