The present invention relates to novel mutants of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) useful as inhibitors of heterotopic ossification. Specifically, the present invention related to novel mutants containing only the entire region involved in the formation of finger 2 including the wrist epitope of a BMP with a specific cysteine residue or specific cysteine residues replaced by a different amino acid. The present invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions containing these mutants and to methods for using the mutants and pharmaceutical compositions in therapy.