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 distribution network". The price of specialty drugs compared to non-specialty drugs is very high, "more than $1,000 per 30-day supply". Specialty drugs cover over forty therapeutic categories and special disease states with over 500 drugs. Vogenberg claims that there is no standard definition of a specialty drug which is one of the reasons they are difficult to manage. "[T]hose pharmaceuticals that usually require special handling, administration, unique inventory management, and a high level of patient monitoring and support to consumers with specific chronic conditions, acute events, or complex therapies, and provides comprehensive patient education services and coordination with the patient