I’m happy to help, but there isn’t a single US patent application titled “heparin synthesis.” There are multiple families of US patent applications and issued patents over the years that claim various methods and products related to chemoenzymatic, enzymatic, and semisynthetic routes to heparin or heparan sulfate (HS), as well as methods to make defined LMWH/ULMWH-like molecules. If you have a specific publication number, inventor, or assignee, share it and I’ll summarize the exact claims.
If you just want a general sense of what US patent claims in this area tend to cover, here are common themes you’ll see:
- Chemoenzymatic synthesis of heparin/HS oligosaccharides with defined sulfation patterns
- Claims often cover the use of defined sequences of enzymes (for example, epimerases and various sulfotransferases) together with specific sugar building blocks to produce oligosaccharides with particular 2-O-, 6-O-, and N-sulfation patterns and iduronate content.
- Methods to produce homogeneous or defined LMWH/ULMWH fragments
- Claims may cover controlled depolymerization or enzymatic trimming to achieve a desired molecular weight distribution, followed by selective re-sulfation to yield molecules with uniform anticoagulant activity.
- Enzymatic/biocatalytic approaches using specific enzymes
- Claims frequently mention particular enzymes or enzyme sets (e.g., NDST variants, C5-epimerase, 2-O-, 6-O-, and 3-O-sulfotransferases) and their use in a defined sequence to build or modify the heparin/HS chain.
- Starting materials and preparation routes
- Claims can cover starting from specific precursors (e.g., K5 polysaccharide derivatives, disaccharide/tetrasaccharide building blocks) and the downstream steps to reach a heparin-like product with a defined sulfation pattern.
- Production in biological systems
- Some families claim recombinant or in vitro biosynthesis approaches (or engineered cells) that assemble heparin/HS chains via expressed biosynthetic enzymes, or semi-synthetic routes using engineered organisms.
- Analytical and quality-control aspects
- Claims may cover methods to verify the sulfation pattern, molecular weight distribution, or anticoagulant activity to ensure product consistency.
What I can do next
- If you provide a US publication number or the assignee/inventor, I’ll give you a concise claim-by-claim summary of that specific application.
- If you’d like, I can outline how to search for these in publicly available sources (Google Patents, USPTO Patent Center, Espacenet) with search terms such as:
- “chemoenzymatic synthesis heparin”
- “heparan sulfate synthesis US”
- “ultra-low molecular weight heparin synthesis”
- “recombinant heparin biosynthesis”
- “HS oligosaccharide with defined sulfation US”
Please tell me:
- Do you want a general overview (as above) or a summary of a specific patent/application? If you have a publication number, inventor, or company, share it and I’ll summarize the claims. Also note I can provide high-level interpretations, not legal advice. For legal interpretation or enforcement questions, consult a patent attorney.