How does the UK use global partnerships to accelerate antimicrobial R&D in areas the global market won’t support?

On the 25th February, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Antimicrobial Resistance brought parliamentarians, experts and industry leaders together to confront the urgent reality that antimicrobial discovery has stalled for decades, while resistance accelerates far faster than new treatments can keep pace.

Cancer treatment, transplantation and surgery all depend on antibiotics that are rapidly losing their power. Infections are a leading cause of death in people with cancer, yet we heard yesterday that only around 3,000 AMR researchers are active worldwide compared with 46,000 in cancer — a stark reminder of how far antimicrobial R&D has slipped behind other fields. But that gap also creates clear room for leadership.

As the 2028 centenary of penicillin approaches, the discussion focused on how the UK can turn its strong life sciences ecosystem into a catalyst for the next generation of antimicrobial discovery. With most of the global burden of AMR in low- and middle-income countries and scientific capacity expanding worldwide, the UK has a strategic opportunity to build global partnerships to kickstart a new generation of antimicrobial discovery.

The APPG will now produce a short report capturing the insights and recommendations from the session, setting out practical next steps for UK leadership in antimicrobial discovery.