sustained-release

[suh-steynd-ri-lees]

adjective

Chemistry, Pharmacology.

1. (of a drug or fertilizer) capable of gradual release of an active agent over a period of time, allowing for a sustained effect; timed-release; long-acting; prolonged-action; slow-release.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sustained-release¹

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

People looking for energy throughout the day tend to do better with the sustained-release dextroamphetamine tablets, Hanson said, rather than people looking for an immediate effect.

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Sustained-release technology “further reduces the incidence of addiction,” reads a Mundipharma PowerPoint slide staff said was still in use last year.

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But it wasn’t until the mid-1990s, when pharmaceutical companies introduced new opioid-based products — and, in particular, OxyContin, a sustained-release formulation of a decades-old medication called oxycodone, manufactured by Purdue Pharma in Stamford, Connecticut — that such prescriptions surged and the use of opioids to treat chronic pain became widespread.

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That’s all the more reason for BWC to stop covering new OxyContin prescriptions effective June 1, when it will switch to a sustained-release version of oxycodone that is less susceptible to addiction.

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Humans usually don’t experience the same withdrawal because they take sustained-release formulations and taper off opioids gradually.

Read more on Science Magazine