Advances in the preparation and synthesis of heparin and related products

Heparin is a naturally occurring glycosaminoglycan from livestock, principally porcine intestine, and is clinically used as an anticoagulant drug. A limitation to heparin production is that it depends on a single animal species and potential problems have been associated with animal-derived heparin. The contamination crisis in 2008 led to a search for new animal sources and the investigation of non-animal sources of heparin. Over the past 5 years, new animal sources, chemical, and chemoenzymatic methods have been introduced to prepare heparin based drugs. In this review, we describe advances in the preparation and synthesis of heparin and related products.