DOPING | French pharmaceutical company develops project that worries cycling authorities over potential use in riders

According to information published by colleagues at Il Corriere, an investigation in France has put the spotlight on a substance with potential medical use that has also attracted interest in the doping world. It is an alternative haemoglobin derived from the lugworm, known as the sandworm, which could act as a powerful oxygen carrier in the human body.

This has prompted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to take a close interest due to possible doping implications. There is no connection so far with cycling or any other sport, but authorities are concerned and, logically, the substance is under surveillance.

The project is being developed at Hemarina, a biopharmaceutical company based in Morlaix on the coast of Bretagne, France. The company was founded by university researchers and has spent fifteen years working almost exclusively on analyzing and adapting the haemoglobin of this marine organism, reared in large tanks. The stated goal is to offer a natural alternative to certain standard treatments, especially in severe diseases that require high tissue oxygenation.

According to available studies, once adapted to the human circulatory system, this haemoglobin would have an oxygen transport capacity up to forty times higher than the natural version, without significant side effects. That makes it a possible blood substitute for transfusions, with the added benefit of being more effective and more readily available than donor blood. Hemarina has patented six different products based on this technology, all supported by extensive scientific literature.

Sporting interest in the substance surfaced after an interview given by Dr Franck Zal, Hemarina’s founder and CEO, to the French daily L’Équipe. He revealed that, three years ago, a very well-known rider from a WorldTour team requested a supply of the product. The main reason would be its very short half-life, which allows the substance to be cleared quickly from the body.

According to the company itself, this was not an isolated case. Hemarina says it immediately informed Oclaesp, the French police unit specialised in combating doping and health-related offences. Oclaesp confirmed an open investigation, although it has not disclosed the outcome of proceedings initiated three years ago.

The World Anti-Doping Agency has stated that the substance is under surveillance and can be detected directly in tests, provided analysis takes place between four and eight hours after administration. This is a very narrow window that makes detection difficult in competitive contexts.

Its use could also be reflected in athletes’ biological passports. However, there are no recent cases of elite athletes sanctioned for longitudinal anomalies linked to this substance. Some researchers note that scientific studies indicate this haemoglobin would not alter haematocrit, one of the key parameters used in biological passport models. That fuels concern that new doping practices may be advancing faster than the systems designed to detect them.