Testing to combat antimicrobial resistance in low-resource settings gets US$10 million boost from extended FIND–GAMRIF partnership

FIND announced today that a new US$10 million grant agreement has been signed with the UK Department of Health and Social Care’s Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF), extending GAMRIF’s support to FIND for a period of 4 years.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the top ten threats to global public health. In 2019, more people died from AMR than from AIDS or malaria, with an estimated 1.2 million deaths directly attributable to drug-resistant strains of common bacterial infections. This number is expected to increase to 10 million deaths per year by 2050. The highest burden of AMR is in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and the growth of AMR is projected to result in a 25% increase in healthcare costs in low-income countries by 2050, compared with a 6% increase in high-income countries.

The GAMRIF funding announced today extends the UK government’s long-standing and ongoing commitment to FIND’s work. It will be used in support of FIND’s three-pronged strategy to prevent AMR emergence and halt its development. First, testing is essential to guide clinical decision-making. This requires development and use of rapid diagnostic tests and digital tools tailored for AMR that can be available when and where people first access health services (i.e. in primary care and community settings) – particularly for common infections that may or may not require antibiotics, such as respiratory infections and sexually transmitted infections.

Second, there is a shortage of AMR-specific tools in LMIC hospitals, for conditions including hospital-acquired infections and bloodstream infections such as sepsis, with special attention needed for sepsis in newborns. This workstream will help advance the development, evidence generation and early implementation of innovative AMR solutions (tests and digital tools) that can save lives by ensuring that patients with severe infections receive the right treatment, first time, based on fast, accurate test results.

Third, there is a chronic lack of AMR data that is preventing policy makers from making informed decisions about local, regional, and national test-and-treat policies. Open-access digital technologies can enable near real-time AMR surveillance systems, based on routine, digitally connected diagnostic tools.

Dr Cassandra Kelly-Cirino, Vice President, Health Programmes at FIND, said: “Lack of essential diagnostics that can be accessed by people when and where they are needed is jeopardizing global efforts to combat AMR everywhere. We are grateful to GAMRIF for the continued support as we work in partnership on this multi-faceted strategy to save lives.”

Dame Sally Davies, UK Special Envoy on AMR, said: “AMR is a global threat, directly killing 1.25 million people across the world each year – with the highest burden in low- and middle-income countries. I am proud of the renewed partnership between the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care and FIND, to develop innovative and accessible diagnostics. These tests and digital tools will aid clinical decision-making, ensuring that patients get the most appropriate treatment when they need it, as well as improving data collection to enhance our understanding of AMR locally and globally.”

The new funding will span a period of 4 years, from 2023 to 2027.

GAMRIF is a UK aid fund that supports research and development around the world to reduce the threat of antimicrobial resistance in low- and middle-income countries.