The Trinity Challenge on Community Access to Effective Antibiotics – eight finalists selected for £1 million prize

The Trinity Challenge has announced eight finalists in its competition aimed at tackling the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. The data-driven solutions are designed to mitigate the impact of antibiotic-resistant infections in low- and middle-income countries, with the finalist teams delivering activity across Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, India, Malawi, Namibia and Nigeria.

The eight finalists, selected by a panel of independent judges from 20 organisations across the world, have proposed a range of innovative solutions to fill critical gaps in how we can tackle substandard and falsified oral antibiotics or better manage stock control. They were shortlisted from 171 applications from 51 countries.

The shortlisted solutions offer a powerful insight into global innovation in action. Across predictive stock forecasting, mobile verification tools, integrated pharmacy dashboards, and community surveillance systems, each finalist addresses key gaps in antibiotic supply, safety, and authentication across diverse health systems in low resource settings.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chair, the Trinity Challenge and UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance, said: “In this Challenge we are focussing on the barriers that prevent access to effective antibiotics and accelerate bacterial resistance in low- and middle-income countries. The two big issues are stock control and substandard and falsified oral antibiotics. Our belief is that by focussing on these issues we will generate high-quality, cost-effective, impactful digital or technological solutions. The world is in the middle of an antibiotic emergency, and we collectively need to take action to respond.”

This year the judges hope to find two winners, both sharing the £1 million prize fund. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Wednesday 20 August 2025. The virtual ceremony will feature contributions from guest speakers and short presentations from each finalist. To attend the awards ceremony, please register for the event here.

About Antimicrobial Resistance

Antibiotic resistance in bacteria (often referred to as antimicrobial resistance or AMR) is a One Health crisis and an increasing threat to our health, food, and environmental security.

It is estimated that antibiotic resistance will cause 39 million deaths in the next 25 years. Without action, the majority of deaths will occur within low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

People and animals in LMICs lack access to common antibiotics. Of the 7.75 million people who die of bacterial sepsis each year, almost 3 million have infections that could be treated with commonly used oral antibiotics, recommended by the WHO (World Health Organisation) such as penicillin and amoxicillin, which are generally low risk, low cost, and widely available. Children under 5 years of age in LMICs are especially affected.

Lack of access to effective antibiotics causes both mild and severe infections, increased antibiotic resistance in bacteria, and death in both human and animal populations. There are many contributing factors, from upstream manufacturing quality control, to downstream availability of health care services.

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 61 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 Trinity Challenge on Community Access to Effective Antibiotics has been made possible through funding from the Institute of Philanthropy empowered by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, Wellcome and the support of our Members.