Covid-19 UK: Common blood thinner can spare virus patients from severe lung damage, study claims

A £15 blood-thinning drug could help Covid patients and prevent lung damage, a study suggested today.

Researchers based in the UK and Australia found heparin improved oxygen levels of hospitalised patients by 70 per cent. 

The drug is unique because of its combination of anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulant effects, experts said. 

Heparin is already prescribed in hospitals to Britons suffering clots who may have Covid.  

It is usually injected but doctors found it was safe and effective for Covid patients when inhaled.

The drug is said to work by stopping the virus multiplying in the lungs and anti-inflammatory properties stop the immune system from overreacting. Researchers only studied heparin specifically, but the same effect could be seen in other blood thinners. 

Covid can be deadly because it has the potential to cause pneumonia in the lungs, which blocks the flow of oxygen around the body to major organs. 

Researchers said the drug could be used in poorer countries where less people have been vaccinated so are more at risk of being hospitalised.

Researchers from King’s College London and the Australian National University found heparin improves oxygen levels by 70 per cent in virus patients. Graph shows: Blood oxygenation in 98 Covid patients before and after being given the blood thinner on day zero

Professor van Haren said: ‘Most Covid experts agree that vaccination alone is not going to stop the pandemic. 

‘This could really assist in poorer countries where vaccination is challenging and we think it could help front line workers who could use it as a preventative measure.

‘Inhaled heparin is a promising new possibility to provide a low-cost, safe and effective treatment for Covid that is available and affordable to low and middle-income countries around the globe.’

Around 20 per cent of people infected with the virus develop hypoxaemia — a drop in oxygen saturation in the blood — which is the main cause of hospitalisation, the researchers from King’s College London and the Australian National University said.

And some of those in hospital experience respiratory failure, with up to a quarter requiring mechanical ventilation in intensive care. 

A host of studies have found Omicron causes less damage in the lower lungs than previous variants. But it is still forcing people into hospitals, who could be treated with the drug, the researchers suggested.

Britain currently has two antiviral treatments specifically for Covid approved — Merck’s molnupiravir and Pfizer’s Paxlovid — but the researchers will continue to collect evidence on heparin’s use in fighting off the virus. 

Other treatments for seriously ill patients including monoclonal antibodies dexamethasone and sotrovimab are also available.  

The study, published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, analysed 98 Covid patients in hospital with the virus who were given heparin in the US and Argentina between April 2020 and January 2021.

Most patients would not have been vaccinated because of the time frame. 

They were split over two hospitals in the US — Frederick Health Hospital in Maryland, and Coney Island Hospital in New York — and the San Camilo Clinic in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

The patients had an average age of 66.

A total of 79 patients were not on mechanical ventilation, while 19 were.

Nearly two thirds (62 per cent) were already on the antiviral remdesivir, which is licenced for emergency use in Covid patients in the UK. 

Researchers measured their level of blood oxygen levels before and after being given the drug — which was administered in three different dosages.

The drug costs just £16.50 per dose when administering 5,000 International Units per dose — the second most common dosage used in the study (32 per cent). 

They found it increased in all groups after taking the drug, with the biggest jump seen in patients given the highest dosage of 25,000 IU per dose, which was given to 62 per cent of patients.

A total of 69 patients (70 per cent) survived the virus with 29 (30 per cent) dying. Improving oxygen levels helped the survivors avoid needing to be put on a ventilator.

Around 20 per cent of people infected with the virus develop hypoxaemia — a drop in oxygen saturation in the blood — which is the main cause of hospitalisation

The researchers also measured their bleeding to determine how safe the drug was.

Despite two patients already on ventilators suffering major bleeding, they concluded the drug was generally unlikely to cause problems.

The drug has an excellent safety record in patients with other respiratory diseases such as cystic fibrosis.

The authors said their study showed promising signs for heparin’s use in treating Covid, adding they are continuing further studies into its effects.

Study lead Professor Frank van Haren, an intensive care physician at the Australian National University, said: ‘This drug is already available in hospitals all over the world and it is a very inexpensive drug. 

‘If it is as effective as our early results suggest, it could have a major impact in our fight against Covid.’ 

Co-author Professor Clive Page, a pharmacologist from King’s College London, said: ‘Inhaled heparin has antiviral properties which work by binding to the spike proteins the coronavirus uses to enter the cells of the body. 

‘Inhaled heparin effectively stops the virus infecting cells in the lungs and could also stop people from getting the virus from others. 

‘It also works as an anti-inflammatory drug — the medicine has the ability to calm everything down when the body is mounting an exaggerated response to the virus. 

‘We already know heparin can reduce lung damage caused by this inflammation and the immune response overdrive that we see in other lung diseases which could provide benefit to patients hospitalised with Covid.

He added: ‘There is no other drug that has these three different effects — anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulant.’