Patent Term Extended Under 35 U.S.C.   156

   Merck & Co., Inc., the owner of record in the Patent and Trademark
Office (PTO) of U.S. Patent No. 4,199,569, filed an application for
patent term extension under 35 U.S.C.    156 on January 8, 1997. The
original term of the patent is due to expire on October 3, 1997. The
patent claims the active ingredient ivermectin in the human drug product
"STROMECTOL ," which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration
for commercial marketing or use on November 22, 1996. An extension of
1,026 days is requested.
   35 U.S.C.    156(e)(2) provides that if the term of a patent for
which an application for patent term extension has been filed will
expire before a certificate of extension is issued and the patent is
determined to be eligible for extension, the Commissioner shall extend
the term of the patent for an interim period.
   PTO review of the application to date indicates that the subject
patent would be eligible for extension of the patent term under 35
U.S.C.    156. A final determination of the length of the extension of
the patent term and issuance of a patent term extension certificate
cannot be accomplished until a final determination of the length of the
regulatory review period is made by the FDA. Accordingly, since the
original term of the patent would have expired before a certificate of
patent term extension could be issued, an interim extension under 35
U.S.C.    156(e)(2) of the term of U.S. Patent No. 4,199,569 has been
granted for a period of one-year from October 3, 1997, the original
expiration date of the patent.