Trinity Challenge launches £1 million competition to improve community access to effective antibiotics 

The Trinity Challenge today launched a new innovation competition as part of its continued work on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The new Challenge, which focuses on improving community access to effective oral antibiotics in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), is a follow-up to last year’s Challenge, which awarded £2.7 million to four winners.

The Challenge welcomes outstanding, data-driven solutions from innovators, NGOs and researchers working in LMICs to address the issues of improving stock control and/or countering the use of substandard or falsified oral antibiotics for humans and/or animals. This could involve using technology to improve the tracking of antibiotics along the journey from their arrival in the country, province or state, to the patient, or developing new or improved ways to authenticate and remove falsified antibiotics at the point of sale.

Access to assured-quality antibiotics remains a pressing issue, with substandard or falsified antibiotics accounting for an estimated 10% of human antibiotic consumption in LMICs. Improved stock control can also ensure antibiotics reach those who need them the most; of the 7.75 million people who die of bacterial sepsis each year, almost 3 million have infections that could have been treated with commonly-used, oral antibiotics such as penicillin and amoxicillin, which are generally low cost, less likely to drive antibiotic resistance in bacteria, and should be widely available. Children under 5 years of age in LMICs are especially affected.

Applications are now open and must be submitted by 24 April 2025. Solutions might respond to this Challenge by, for example:

• Applying technology to improve the tracking of community demand and reporting on shortages and/or predicting stockouts
• Leveraging citizen-related data (such as mobility or health metrics) to improve sustainable access to effective oral antibiotics for human and/or animal use in the community
• Developing methods for better identification of falsified antibiotics in the supply chain
• Developing technology for local community stock control
• Innovation to mitigate the effects of climate change on access to effective antibiotics in LMIC communities
• Applying existing technology from other sectors to AMR
• Developing technology to monitor the effect of transport and storage factors on antibiotic quality

Submissions should be shared via the Challenge platform by 24 April 2025.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chair, the Trinity Challenge and UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance, said: “The antibiotic emergency is not a problem that we can solve overnight; it will require time, and a wide range of evolving approaches. We were delighted with the response to our first Challenge on antimicrobial resistance, but we know there is more to be done.
We have identified a need to focus on access to effective oral antibiotics for community use, especially in low- and middle-income countries. While we must limit the use of antibiotics when they are not needed, we must also ensure that quality antibiotics are available to treat appropriate infections before having a chance to be passed on to other people and animals or to develop drug-resistance.”

Professor Marc Mendelson, Director, the Trinity Challenge, said: “Low-cost solutions to ensure community access to effective oral antibiotics for humans and animals would significantly benefit the lives of LMIC communities, ensuring optimal treatment and prevention of infection. This could be achieved through innovation in local stock control and identification of substandard and falsified antibiotics.

Increasingly used technologies such as block chain and AI could be successfully employed to impact this challenge in society. We are looking to attract innovative thinking and new players to join us in our urgent mission to protect the power of antibiotics. I believe this new Challenge can play a role in enabling this to happen.”

Wellcome funds research combating infectious diseases including drug resistance infections and is a funder of this Trinity Challenge on improving community access to effective antibiotics. Sumi Robson in Wellcome’s Infectious Disease team, said: “AMR is one of the biggest global health challenges we face, disproportionately affecting those in low- and middle-income countries. One crucial step is to combat the rise in AMR to ensure that existing antibiotics are used effectively, alongside the development of new antibiotics and other interventions. It will be exciting to see what novel data-driven solutions emerge from this Challenge, giving us new tools to help mitigate and respond to the AMR crisis and protect those most affected.”

ENDS

About Antimicrobial Resistance

The speed at which antibiotic resistance is increasing predominantly relates to misuse and overuse of antibiotics across our healthcare systems and the agri-food industry, threatening our health, food, environment and global security. The second GRAM report estimates 39 million deaths from AMR by 2050 if robust action is not taken.

Furthermore, annual livestock loss from antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections is estimated between $575 – $953 billion in cumulative global gross domestic product (GDP) over the same period, affecting the consumption needs of between 746 million and 2 billion people and estimates by the World Bank suggest that failure to mitigate AMR could wipe away 3.8% of global GDP each year by 2050, pushing 28 million people into poverty.

About The Trinity Challenge

The Trinity Challenge (TTC) is a charity supporting the creation of data-driven solutions to help protect against global health threats. We believe data and analytics hold the key to building effective, affordable, and scalable solutions to current and future pandemics and health emergencies, and we are committed to working with governments, individuals and organisations across the world, to help improve our resilience against current and future threats to global health.

The Trinity Challenge was launched in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which highlighted a global need to be better prepared to tackle healthcare emergencies. The inaugural 2021 Challenge on pandemic preparedness received applications from 340 teams across 60 countries and distributed a prize fund of £5.7 million across eight winning initiatives.

In 2024, the second Trinity Challenge awarded a total of £2.7 million across four winning teams for its competition on tackling the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The work of the Trinity Challenge has been made possible through the support of our Members.

About Wellcome

Wellcome supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. We support discovery into life, health and wellbeing, and we are taking on three worldwide health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health.