A Circular Economy Strategy for Repurposing Heparin Manufacturing By‐Products as Anti‐Inflammatory Therapeutics

Heparin manufacturing generates significant volumes of by-products, which are typically treated as waste, and whose potential as a source of alternative bioactive materials is yet to be fully developed. Here, we employed a circular economy approach to support the repurposing of this waste stream for potential anti-inflammatory applications. Glycosaminoglycan fractions were extracted and purified from porcine-derived heparin by-products and structurally characterised using nuclear magnetic resonance and high performance size exclusion chromatography. The fractions exhibited distinct saccharide compositions, sulfation patterns, and molecular weight profiles. Bioactivity assays demonstrated that selected fractions attenuated LPS-induced NF-κB activation in RAW-Blue™ cells and enhanced IL-10 production ex vivo, indicating immunomodulatory potential. Heparin by-products have negligible anticoagulant activity, which supports their safe use in non-anticoagulant biomedical applications. These findings illustrate the potential of heparin by-products as therapeutic agents, while contributing to sustainable pharmaceutical manufacturing.