Geneva, 16 September 2024 – The UK Department of Health and Social Care has renewed its support to the Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP) by investing an additional £7 million for 2024-2027 to accelerate research and development (R&D) of treatments for drug-resistant infections and make them accessible to people who need them most. The new funding makes the UK the second largest funder to GARDP after Germany.

The investment made by the UK Government’s Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF) will support GARDP’s activities to develop new treatments for drug-resistant infections identified by the World Health Organization as posing the greatest threat to health. These include serious bacterial infections, neonatal sepsis and gonorrhoea.

With nearly 5 million deaths a year associated with drug-resistant bacterial infections, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is now one of the biggest global killers and on the rise. It is estimated that 80% of AMR deaths occur in LMICs, with sub-Saharan Africa and Asia bearing the brunt.

The UK Department of Health and Social Care has now invested a total of £30 million in GARDP programmes since 2018, including developing new and improved treatments for neonatal sepsis – a leading cause of death in newborns – as well as hospital-acquired bacterial infections.

The funding will also help develop a novel oral treatment for gonorrhoea, a sexually transmitted infection that has been identified by the World Health Organization as urgently requiring new antibiotics, and support GARDP’s access activities.

“We are at a pivotal moment in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance, and international collaboration is more important than ever”, said Dame Sally Davies, UK Special Envoy for AMR. “The UK is proud to continue this partnership with GARDP, driving life-saving innovations such as the first new antibiotic for drug-resistant gonorrhoea in over 30 years. We remain committed to working with GARDP to ensure that these vital treatments reach those who need them most around the world.”

“The UK’s continued leadership in countering antibiotic resistance serves as a model for other governments to step up to the mark,” said Manica Balasegaram, GARDP’s Executive Director. “At the upcoming UN High-Level Meeting on AMR in New York, we have an opportunity to not only focus the world’s attention on the AMR crisis and the critical need for antibiotic research and development, but secure concrete commitments from governments to stop the rise and spread of drug-resistant infections.”

Driven by public health need, GARDP’s innovative public-private partnership model strives to ensure the antibiotic drug development process is efficient and cost-effective by fully integrating R&D and access; negotiating collaboration and license agreements; and developing equal partnership with public and private sector actors. By working at critical stages of antibiotic development, notably scientific discovery and R&D to supporting the manufacturing, registration and introduction of treatments, GARDP aims to reinforce an ecosystem that ensures equitable and sustainable access to effective new and essential antibiotics.

GAMRIF is a One Health UK aid fund that supports research and development around the world to reduce the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in humans, animals and the environment for the benefit of people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

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About GARDP
We are a not-for-profit global health organization driven to protect people from the rise and spread of drug-resistant infections, one of the biggest threats to us all. By forging the public and private partnerships that matter, we develop and make accessible antibiotic treatments for people who need them. We receive vital support from the governments of Canada, Germany, Japan, Monaco, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the Canton of Geneva, the European Union, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Health EDCTP3, GSK, the RIGHT Foundation, the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and Wellcome. We are GARDP, the Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership. www.gardp.org

About the Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF)
The Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF) is a UK One Health aid fund that supports research and development around the world to reduce the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in humans, animals and the environment for the benefit of people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). GAMRIF core objectives are to develop innovative One Health solutions to tackle AMR; increase availability of context-specific, accessible, and affordable innovations for LMICs; establish international research partnerships with industry, academia, and governments; and collaborate with and leverage additional funding from other global donors.

For further details please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/the-global-amr-innovation-fund