Discovery and development of statins polar methane sulfonamide group, which is quite hydrophilic and confers low lipophilicity. The sulfonamide group forms a unique polar interaction with the enzyme. As a result, rosuvastatin has superior binding affinity to the HMGR enzyme compared to the other statins, which is directly related to its efficiency to lower LDL cholesterol. Lipophilicity of the statins is considered to be quite important since the hepatoselectivity of the statins is related to their lipophilicity. The more lipophilic statins tend to achieve higher levels of exposure in non-hepatic tissues, while the hydrophilic statins tend to be more hepatoselective. The difference in selectivity is
Specialty drugs in the United States Specialty drugs in the United States Specialty drugs or specialty pharmaceuticals are a recent designation of pharmaceuticals that are classified as high-cost, high complexity and/or high touch. Specialty drugs are often biologics—"drugs derived from living cells" that are injectable or infused (although some are oral medications). They are used to treat complex or rare chronic conditions such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, H.I.V. psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease and hepatitis C. In 1990 there were 10 specialty drugs on the market, in the mid-1990s there were fewer than 30, by 2008 there were 200, and by 2015 there were 300. Drugs