AstraZeneca's lawyers say the generic companies that are working on their own versions of omeprazole infringe on the patents for this drug delivery system.

FORBES: Fight Over $6 Billion Drug Begins

The company specializes in drug delivery systems, and it says that its delivery system is distinct from the one covered by AstraZeneca's patents.

FORBES: Fight Over $6 Billion Drug Begins

In order to get investors interested, SpringLeaf needed to get its hands on a large-molecule drug that had already been through the regulatory gamut so that its novel delivery system would greatly improve that mature drug by giving patients greater convenience and control and thus boosting sales of the combination.

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The Graedons noted that while the active ingredient of the drug goes off patent, the pharmaceutical chemistry behind the extended delivery system may still be the intellectual property of the brand-name manufacturer.

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Whether the system can then be turned into a practical method of drug delivery is more questionable.

ECONOMIST: Drug delivery

Thanks to that and Advair's nifty delivery system--a plastic purple puck that is easy to use--the drug has moved far beyond a narrow audience of severe asthma patients to reach those with mild cases and nonasthmatics who simply have a bad bronchial cough.

FORBES: Trouble Breathing