Quality Control and Product Differentiation of LMWHs Marketed in China Using 1H NMR Spectroscopy and Chemometric Tools

Abstract Low molecular weight heparins (LMWHs) are heterogeneous mixtures of glycosaminoglycan chains composed of mixture of different lengths and substitution patterns. Structural characterization and quality control of LMWHs have always been challenging. The Chinese drug regulatory authorities have been committed to improve the supervision standards of LMWHs to better regulate the quality and safety of LMWHs in current Chinese market. In the present paper, 80 batches of three types LMWHs (dalteparin, enoxaparin and naldroparin) marketed in China from different manufacturers were studied by 1H NMR experiments and chemometric analysis. The method can be used not only to monitor impurities and contaminants, but also to check the batch-to-batch consistency of each manufacture. Moreover, for the biosimilar LMWHs from different manufactures, they can be differentiated and clustered according to their slightly different structural compositions originated from production process. By using this method, the quality and safety of LMWHs marketed in China were initially assessed.