Stanol ester understood. Stanol ester Stanol ester is a heterogeneous group of chemical compounds known to reduce the level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in blood when ingested, though to a much lesser degree than prescription drugs such as statins. The starting material is phytosterols from plants. These are first hydrogenated to give a plant stanol which is then esterified with a mixture of fatty acids also derived from plants. Plant stanol esters are found naturally occurring in small quantities in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, cereals, legumes, and vegetable oils. Stanol ester is often added to rapeseed oil based margarine or other
Specialty drugs in the United States not only costs more, but they also take longer to develop than other large market pharmaceuticals (See Drug development). In addition, there are often fewer drug choices for rare or hard-to-treat diseases. This results in less competition in the marketplace for these drugs due to patent protection, which allows these firms to act as monopolists (See Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act). Due to this lack of competition, policies that serve to limit prices in other markets can be ineffective or even counter-productive when applied to specialty drugs. High prices for specialty drugs are a problem for both