About CRS

Introduction
The Controlled Release Society (CRS) is an international organization which serves 3,000 members from more than 50 countries. Two-thirds of the CRS membership represents industry and one-third represents academia and government.

Mission
CRS is the premier multidisciplinary Society dedicated to promoting the science, technology, and innovation of delivery of bioactives for the benefit of the world population.

Background
Efforts to use materials to regulate the spatial and temporal release of substances for agricultural, veterinary, cosmetic, medicinal and household applications are probably as old as mankind. The modern era of controlled release can be traced to the development of the first commercially successful oral sustained-release products in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and to the development of controlled release of marine antifoulants from rubber in the 1950s. It was in this latter field, and in other agrochemical applications, that CRS was conceived in 1973. Five years later, CRS was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization, devoted to the advancement of the science and technology of controlled release. Interest in controlled release has grown and broadened in scope ever since, due to the realization of the economic, therapeutic and social benefits that can be derived from controlled release technology. A clear understanding of the "added value" of controlled release is crucial for all parties involved in human and animal health care and other applications.

Science
Controlled release is the field of scientific activity concerned with the control in time and space of the biological effects of therapeutic agents in human and animal health, and of other active agents in environmental, consumer and industrial applications. The objective may be to prolong the duration of action of an active agent, to minimize adverse reactions, or to maximize efficacy. This objective may be achieved by control of diffusion, reaction rates or other physicochemical parameters through the use of rate-controlling materials, manipulation of the appropriate biological barriers, targeting, or manipulation of the fate of the agent once beyond these barriers. Controlled release draws upon the expertise of many disciplines: chemistry, chemical engineering, pharmaceutics, physics, materials science, and the biological sciences-biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, physiology, cell biology, medicine, etc. Newer approaches such as gene therapy are being addressed as other forms of controlled release.

The science of controlled release has become a research discipline whose future depends on a thorough understanding of the interactions between the delivery system and the biological or environmental barriers to delivery of active substances.

Activities
CRS is just the right size for members to participate in various activities.

• Sponsorship of annual symposia
• Sponsorship of workshops/short courses
• Publication of the CRS Newsletter
• Promotion of education
• Promotion of worldwide student and international chapters
• Administrative and editorial support for the Journal of Controlled Release
• Advocacy in regulatory affairs