Legislation that would permit the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) to exercise discretion to accept untimely filed Patent Term Extension (“PTE”) applications has reportedly been added to the “Patent Reform Act of 2007” (S. 1145) by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA). Representative William Delahunt (D-MA), …
Support for legislation that would create a biogenerics approval path is reportedly crumbling. Last month, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (“HELP”) Committee passed S. 1695, “the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2007.” Although neither the full Senate, nor the House Energy …
For the third time in as many years, FDA has been requested to provide an advisory opinion on the Agency’s policy for the submission of patents for Orange Book listing that cover drug delivery systems (e.g., metered-dose and dry powder inhalers, and transdermal patches) that …
In a July 3, 2007 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Altus Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that the company was notified by FDA’s Office of Orphan Products Development (“OOPD”) that the orphan drug designation granted in January 2002 to ALTU-135, also know as TheraCLEC, …
On June 29, 2007, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in Mylan v. Leavitt, issued a memorandum opinion denying Mylan’s Emergency Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order that asked the court to order FDA to relist Pfizer’s U.S. Patent No. 4,879,303 covering …
Our “blogfather” over at the Orange Book Blog already has a preliminary post up about the recent victory in the district court by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis over Apotex relating to the enforceability and validity of the patent on the active ingredient in Plavix. Long …
In chemistry, enantiomers are stereoisomers that are non-superimposable complete mirror images of one another. Enantiomers may be either “right-handed” (dextro-rotary) S(+)-isomers, or “left-handed” (levo-rotary) R(-)-isomers. A racemic mixture is one that has equal amounts of “left- and right-handed” enantiomers of a particular chiral molecule. For …
In a previous post, we reported on an assessment conducted by the Analysis Group, Inc. on the effects of authorized generics on paragraph IV patent certifications. There, the authors concluded that “[t]here is no evidence to suggest that authorized generic entry causes delayed generic entry.” …
There is a wise political maxim, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Not to be fooled a second time, the U.S. Senate has passed legislation that would, if enacted, make significant changes in the way FDA handles so-called “generic …
We previously reported that Pfizer submitted a citizen petition (2007P-0110) and a petition for stay of action (2007P-0111) requesting that FDA take certain action with respect to Novartis’s LOTREL (amlodipine besylate; benazepril HCl) subsequent to Pfizer’s decision to revoke (as of midnight March 25, 2007) …
On May 22, 2007, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), a self-described non-profit public policy organization dedicated to advancing the principles of free enterprise and limited government, published a report, titled “Healthy Competition: The Case for Generic and Follow-On Biologics.” The report, authored by Gregory Conko, …
Last week we reported on motions submitted by Mylan and Apotex requesting that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia reconsider its April 30, 2007 memorandum opinion concerning 180-day generic drug and pediatric exclusivity issues involving NORVASC (amlodipine besylate) Tablets and the availability …
Yesterday, a former Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) staffer recommended that drug companies follow a “moderate approach” in pursuing “reverse payments” — payments made by brand name companies to generic drug companies to persuade the generic companies to stay off the market for a particular drug. …
It has been a hectic week for those of us following the various twists and turns involving generic versions of Pfizer’s high blood pressure drug NORVASC (amlodipine besylate) Tablets and the availability and applicability of both 180-day generic drug exclusivity and pediatric exclusivity with respect …
On April 20, 2007, Arnold & Porter submitted a citizen petition and a petition for stay of action on behalf of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. asking FDA to change the Agency’s policy with respect to Hatch-Waxman patent and exclusivity benefits for combination drugs containing a so-called …
