Fleming Initiative raises first £100m in the global fight against AMR

Fleming Initiative highlights threat of AMR in New York

As world leaders gather in New York to discuss the growing global health threat, the Fleming Initiative is poised to break down barriers to progress.

Three new partners - LifeArc, Cepheid and Optum - have pledged additional funding and resources to the Fleming Initiative’s global effort to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR), as leading medical expert Professor Lord Ara Darzi calls for tighter restrictions on the use of antibiotics.

Established by Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, the Fleming Initiative brings together research scientists, policymakers, clinicians, behavioural experts, public and commercial partners to provide the networks, expertise and skills to provide equitable solutions to AMR at the global scale.

The announcement comes at a critical moment. For only the second time, world leaders are preparing to gather for a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting on AMR in New York.

In the United States, someone contracts a drug-resistant infection every 11 seconds on average, and every 15 minutes someone dies. Other countries are grappling with even more AMR cases and deaths.

AMR is a critical global public health threat, largely driven by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobial drugs in animals, humans and plants.

This has led to a global rise in drug-resistant infections that requires an urgent, concerted multidisciplinary and multi-partner response.

The Fleming Initiative is poised to tackle the issue head on and break down many of the current barriers to progress.

The three new partners announced today – LifeArc, Cepheid and Optum - bring invaluable world-leading expertise across diagnostics, global health data and research translation to the Initiative.

We urgently need action to address AMR, which is why I will be calling for the ambition of no antibiotic prescriptions without a diagnosis by 2030. Professor Lord Ara Darzi Chair of the Fleming Initiative

They join a growing number of partners, including GSK, and philanthropists who together have helped to reach an initial funding milestone of £100m to begin a global programme of work – just one year since the funding appeal was launched by HRH Prince William.

Chair of the Fleming Initiative, Professor Lord Ara Darzi, and president of Imperial College London, Professor Hugh Brady, will use the opportunity at UNGA to call for urgent measures to restrict the use of antibiotics without prescription in order to protect these lifesaving drugs and ensure they remain a vital tool in our arsenal against infections.

Speaking from UNGA in New York, Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham, Chair of the Fleming Initiative, said: “Antimicrobial resistance represents one of the most significant public health threats facing the global population.

"Only by mobilising action and resources across countries, sectors and industries will we start to make progress at the pace and scale that is required.” 

“We urgently need action to address AMR, which is why I will be calling for the ambition of no antibiotic prescriptions without a diagnosis by 2030.

“The Fleming Initiative has a unique approach to tackling the multifaceted challenge of AMR: bringing together world-class expertise in science, technology, policy and behavioural science alongside clinical experience, through a global network of centres, to find, test, and scale solutions to AMR.

"Our new partners bolster the Initiative as world leaders in research commercialisation, diagnostics and global health data.”

Global programmes to tackle AMR

With the funding and support of partners, the Fleming Initiative will launch global programmes of work to address the drivers of AMR, develop international networks of AMR expertise, and outline strategic research themes to rapidly advance solutions to these urgent challenges, including: 

• Leading state-of-the-art drug discovery using AI and machine learning and rapid high throughput experimentation for new therapeutics
• Developing diagnostics to improve early detection, prevent transmission and enable specific treatments
• Slowing the rising tide of fungal antimicrobial resistance (fAMR)
• Understanding the links between AMR, climate change and the environment to better map and predict the emergence and transmission of new resistant infections.

Lord Darzi, who is an honorary consultant surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Professor of Surgery at Imperial College London, continued: “We’re delighted that LifeArc, Cepheid and Optum have joined us at the start of our journey to fight antimicrobial resistance, but this is just the beginning.

"We need scientists, clinicians, industry and governments to come together and reduce drug-resistant infections to save lives. We hope today’s news inspires other organisations to join us on our journey.”

Dr Dave Powell, Chief Scientific Officer at LifeArc said: “As many as 39 million people are predicted to die over the next 25 years, as a result of antimicrobial resistance.

"We need to take bold action, and LifeArc is proud to become a founding partner of the Fleming Initiative.

"We will use our expertise in early translation to support developments in drug discovery, intellectual property management and technology transfer, so that we can accelerate solutions to AMR and potentially save millions of lives.”

Vitor Rocha, President of Cepheid, said: “Diagnostics will play a crucial role in tackling this invisible health crisis – before it becomes a global humanitarian crisis.

"As the first diagnostic company to partner with the Fleming Initiative on this vital cause, Cepheid is proud to further our efforts to ensure common infections do not become life-threatening.

"This partnership is an important example of science working hand in hand with policy and people to deliver meaningful change.”

Dame Vivian Hunt, Chief Innovation Officer at Optum, said: “Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious threat to millions of people around the world.

"Optum is honoured to serve as the primary data and analytics partner for the Fleming Initiative. We are dedicated to generating insights that drive interventions and innovation to combat this global health threat.”

Drug-resistant infections

AMR occurs when microbes such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites adapt and become resistant to the drugs we use to kill them and to treat infections.

The result is drug-resistant infections that are increasingly difficult to treat, and common infections and minor injuries becoming potentially life-threatening.

In 2019, there were an estimated 1.2 million deaths directly attributable to drug-resistant bacterial infections. According to recent estimates, more than 39 million people around the world could die from antibiotic-resistant infections over the next 25 years.

AMR has been caused in part by the widespread overuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines, in humans and livestock, which has led to the global spread of drug-resistant microbes.

To effectively tackle AMR, global awareness and behaviour change is needed alongside rapid scientific advances.

UNGA Meeting on AMR

On 26th September, senior representatives and partners of the Fleming Initiative, as well as from Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, will be in New York for the United Nations’ General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level meeting on AMR, to take part in panel sessions and events, and meet policy makers as well as representatives from industry and patient groups.

As part of UNGA in New York, the Fleming Initiative team will host a roundtable event with Google’s DeepMind on the role of AI in tackling AMR, an event showcasing the power of global public engagement and education, hosted by philanthropic organisation the Carnegie Corporation, as well as an event discussing the importance of disruptive innovation.

There will also be a promotional video screened on Times Square to highlight the issue of antibiotic-resistant infections.

The Fleming Initiative will also coordinate a wave of activity online through its CHAIN network, this will see clinical content creators around the world sharing insights on AMR and behavioural change on YouTube.

See the press release of this article