Using heparin molecules to manage COVID‐2019

Liu, Jian; Li, Jine; Arnold, Katelyn; Pawlinski, Rafal; Key, Nigel S.

The COVID‐19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic is becoming one of the largest global public health crises in modern history. The race for an effective drug to prevent or treat the infection is the highest priority among healthcare providers, government officials and the pharmaceutical industry. Recent evidence reports that the use of low‐molecular weight heparin reduces mortality in severe coronavirus patients with coagulopathy. Although the full scope of the benefits from heparin for COVID‐19 patients is unfolding, encouraging clinical data suggest that heparin‐like molecules may represent a useful approach to treat or prevent SARS‐CoV‐2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) infection. This article intends to offer our opinions on the mechanism(s) by which heparin may attenuate the course of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Furthermore, we propose a novel strategy to treat or prevent SARS‐CoV‐2 infection using ‘designer’ heparin molecules that are fabricated using a synthetic biology approach.