Researchers at the University of Liverpool and partners have set out a new framework in an effort to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the UK.
Published in Lancet Microbe, the new framework was supported by the National Institute of Health and Care Research’s (NIHR) Clinical Research Network and the NIHR Infection Specialty Group.
Designated as one of the top ten global public health threats to face humanity by the World Health Organization, AMR occurs when bacteria, fungi and parasites change and adapt to antibiotics over time.
The article, System-Wide Approaches to Antimicrobial Resistance in the UK: the AMR-X Framework, highlights the work of multiple authors from several UK institutions and stakeholders.
AMR-X combines traditional AMR discovery, experimental research and applied research with continuous analysis of pathogens and antimicrobial uses.
In addition, the new model utilises clinical outcomes that are routinely provided to practitioners, policymakers, patients and the public to advance practice and outcome changes.
The University of Liverpool’s professor William Hope, Dame Sally Davies chair of AMR research, said: “AMR-X provides a method to integrate multiple sources of data to improve the care of patients receiving antimicrobial therapy” and “proposes linking routinely collected healthcare and surveillance data to be used for the benefit of individual patients and the broader population.”
The new model builds on many previous years of research conducted in the UK and globally, including by the University of Liverpool, which seeks to reveal the global impact of AMR, the discovery and development of new antibiotics and the optimisation of antimicrobial therapy worldwide.
In February, Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy (PACE) announced its first partnership with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to support the development of new antimicrobials to tackle AMR.
Leveraging the UKHSA’s Open Innovation in AMR platform, the project aims to deliver a unique experience for PACE innovators to address the gap in supporting research and development in the early preclinical space while strengthening the UK’s position as a global leader in life sciences in the effort to combat AMR.
The partnership aligns with the UK government’s five-year national action plan, which was announced in 2019 to support the UK’s 20-year vision for AMR.