Prof Casewell was a co-author of the new research, published on Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine. The scientists used CRISPR gene editing technology to pinpoint which human cells interact with cobra venom.
Having identified herapin’s toxin-blocking potential, they trialled the drug in both human cells and mice – and found the molecule, a key component of common blood thinners, was an effective antidote to necrosis.
“Heparin is inexpensive, ubiquitous and a World Health Organization-listed Essential Medicine,” said Tian Du, a PhD student at the University of Sydney and lead author of the study. “After successful human trials, it could be rolled out relatively quickly to become a cheap, safe and effective drug for treating cobra bites.”
Prof Caswell added that the drug is injectable with a strong safety profile, and could be used in remote health clinics across Africa and Asia. But although necrosis is one of the most common consequences of cobra bites, it’s not yet clear if traditional antivenoms will still be needed to combat other symptoms which can include chest pain and difficulty breathing.
“The potential value of heparin is as a rapid treatment that could happen very soon after a bite,” he said. “At that point, a patient would probably still want to carry on and go to hospital and be given antivenom. It’s certainly possible that antivenom wouldn’t be needed, we just don’t know at this point in time.”
Prof Casewell is excited about how the development fits into another big project he is involved in: the race to find a universal antivenom.
Heparin is not that; tests so far suggest it only works for cobra bites. But it could become one of the compounds used in a single treatment course that would work for all bites – something which could save thousands of lives, given that current antivenoms are snake specific and many victims do not know which species they were bitten by.
“We’re starting to get to a point where we can have a single solution for lots of different snake bites, even if that’s composed of three or four drugs of different types,” said Prof Casewell. “Heparin is one of the components of our growing toolkit that could really help control mortality and morbidity caused by snakebite.”
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