A novel fermentation bioprocess for the production of heparin-like compounds has been developed and patented by TU Delft. One of the extracted compounds has shown similar properties as Antithrombin Affinity Depleted Heparin (AADH). AADH has been identified as a potential therapeutic candidate for sepsis. Current AADH production is being trialed from the pentasaccharide depletion of commercial heparin, which is a scarce and expensive resource extracted from mammalian tissues (pig intestines) that has its own application as an anticoagulant. Upon testing using commercial assays, the AADH-like polymer extracted from our mixed culture fermentation bioprocess was found to have higher histone binding affinity compared to mammalian-derived commercial heparin, in addition to non-anticoagulant properties suggesting its applicability for decreasing the innately triggered pro-inflammatory cascade and forming the initial proof of principle that microbially produced heparin-like compounds can act as anti-inflammatory agents and therefore inhibit sepsis.
This project, supported by the TTT MedTech voucher aims at further validating this application of our therapeutic candidate through in-vitro experimentation as well as the simultaneous development of a feasible business roadmap to take this compound to the market.