Genzyme Corp., Biogen Inc. and Abbott Bioresearch Center filed suit earlier this summer against Columbia University in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, claiming that a new patent issued to the university in September 2002 that centered on cotransformation technology was "invalid and unenforceable." (BioWorld Financial Watch)

"Controlled release" might sound like a judicial arrangement for the handling of small-time criminals who've paid their dues, but in drug development, of course, it means something else - referring loosely to the manufacture of longer-lasting versions of marketed compounds.