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Innohep
If you have blood clots, your healthcare provider may use a medication called Innohep. This anticoagulant is given as an injection just below the skin once a day. Although most people tolerate it well, side effects may include bleeding and urinary tract infection, among others. The medication works by slowing down clot formation, which gives the body a chance to break down the clots naturally.
Innohep® (tinzaparin sodium) is a prescription medication approved to treat blood clots. It is an injectable anticoagulant, commonly known as a "blood thinner," although such medications do not actually "thin" the blood.
(Click Innohep Uses for more information on this topic, including possible off-label uses.)
Innohep is manufactured by LEO Pharmaceutical Products for Celgene Corporation.
Innohep is a low-molecular-weight heparin medication. Like heparin, Innohep works to prevent either the formation of clots or the growth of existing clots by binding to an enzyme in the body known as antithrombin III, accelerating its activity. Since antithrombin III inhibits two clotting factors (factors Xa and IIa), Innohep effectively inhibits these two clotting factors as well, which helps to reduce clot formation.
Like other "blood thinners," Innohep does not break down clots. Instead, it slows down clot formation, giving the body a chance to break down the clots naturally.
Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD