Bench, Bedside, Business, and Beyond: innovative solutions for AMR diagnostics
( B2B2B AMRDx )

Research Network: 2023-04-01 - 2025-03-31
Total sum awarded: €50 000

As antimicrobial resistance (AMR) becomes more widespread, efforts to extend the usability of current antimicrobial agents by developing and applying diagnostics to identify the appropriate narrow-spectrum antimicrobial for each infection take centre stage. However, diagnostic developers currently suffer from late-stage attrition, creating a “valley of death” that prevents diagnostic tools from reaching patients. The B2B2B AMRDx network is a cross-disciplinary, geographically diverse and gender-balanced group of partners from universities (bench), hospitals (bedside), for-profits (business), governments and nonprofits (beyond), with expertise in all One Health settings: human, animal, and environmental AMR. Improved communications between stakeholders in multiple sectors, an objective of the WHO’s Oslo Medicines Initiative, benefits the development of rapid, reliable AMR diagnostics. We focus on 3 objectives to address the challenges faced by AMR diagnostics developers. Objective 1 expands an open, self-curated, comprehensive online AMR Diagnostics Developer Directory (ADDD) to facilitate exchange of ideas and create synergies in the field. Objective 2 further develops the JPIAMR Seq4AMR Virtual Benchmarking Platform (VBP) for genotype-to-phenotype microbial benchmarking studies that will include gold standard whole genome sequences, phenotypes, and metadata, as well as accompanying microbial isolates. Objective 3 defines policy Pathways to AMR-specific Incentives for Developing Diagnostics (PAIDD), maximising public health benefits from the use of AMR diagnostics.

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  • Leonid Chindelevitch, Imperial College London, United Kingdom (Coordinator)
  • Soren Abel, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway (Observer)
  • Pia Abel zur Wiesch, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway (Observer)
  • Emily Adams, Global Access Diagnostics, United Kingdom (Observer)
  • Ljupcho Angelovski, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Republic Of Macedonia (Observer)
  • Till Bachmann, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (Observer)
  • Karsten Becker, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany (Observer)
  • Burton Blais, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canada (Observer)
  • Rudolf Blankart, University of Bern, Switzerland (Observer)
  • Lucy Bock, UK Health Security Agency, United Kingdom (Observer)
  • Andrea Cabibbe, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Italy (Observer)
  • Catherine Carrillo, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canada (Observer)
  • Santiago Castillo Ramírez, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico (Observer)
  • Daniela Maria Cirillo, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Italy (Observer)
  • Iñaki Comas, Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia, Spain (Observer)
  • Ashley Cooper, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canada (Observer)
  • Valeriu Crudu, Institute of Phthisiopneumology, Moldova (Observer)
  • Peter Damborg, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (Observer)
  • Cédric Dananché, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Lyon Sud, France (Observer)
  • Alistair Darby, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom (Observer)
  • Marion Darnaud, BIOASTER, France (Observer)
  • Christelle Elias, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Lyon Sud, France (Observer)
  • Amani El Kholy, University of Cairo, Egypt (Observer)
  • César Fernández Sánchez, Barcelona Institute for Microelectronics, Spain (Observer)
  • Cecilia Ferreyra, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), Switzerland (Observer)
  • Valentina Di Gregori, San Pier Damiano Hospital, Italy (Observer)
  • Suparna DuttaSinha, University of Exeter, United Kingdom (Observer)
  • Gilbert Greub, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Switzerland (Observer)
  • Ramune Grigaleviciute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania (Observer)
  • Stuart Hannah, Microplate Dx, United Kingdom (Observer)
  • John Hays, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Netherlands (Observer)
  • Sven Hoffner, EMPE Diagnostics, Sweden (Observer)
  • Michael Hombach, Roche, Switzerland (Observer)
  • Elita Jauneikaite, Imperial College London, United Kingdom (Observer)
  • Povilas Kavaliauskas, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania (Observer)
  • Pawel Labaj, Jagiellonian University, Poland (Observer)
  • Vincent Laban, Nostics, Netherlands (Observer)
  • Gerald Larrouy-Maumus, Imperial College London, United Kingdom (Observer)
  • Ramanan Laxminarayan, Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, USA (Observer)
  • Philippe Leissner, BIOASTER, France (Observer)
  • Michael Lobritz, Roche, Switzerland (Observer)
  • Pilar Marco, Consejo Superior Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain (Observer)
  • Laurence Mazuranok, Fondation Mérieux, France (Observer)
  • Andrew McArthur, McMaster University, Canada (Observer)
  • Dominik Meinel, Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Switzerland (Observer)
  • Paolo Miotto, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Italy (Observer)
  • Konstantinos Mitsakakis, Hahn-Schickard, University of Freiburg, Germany (Observer)
  • Mads Mogensen, TreatSystems, Denmark (Observer)
  • Chantal Morel, University of Bern, Switzerland (Observer)
  • Mattia Pirolo, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (Observer)
  • Susan Poutanen, Sinai Health, Canada (Observer)
  • Florence Pradel, Fondation Mérieux, France (Observer)
  • Eva Rennen, Nostics, Netherlands (Observer)
  • Jesús Rodríguez Manzano, Imperial College London, United Kingdom (Observer)
  • Mitra Saadatian-Elahi, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Lyon Sud, France (Observer)
  • Francesca Saluzzo, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Italy (Observer)
  • Ott Scheler, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia (Observer)
  • Andrew Stubbs, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Netherlands (Observer)
  • Alex Sturm, Resistell, Switzerland (Observer)
  • Anita Suresh, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), Switzerland (Observer)
  • Mark Sutton, UK Health Security Agency, United Kingdom (Observer)
  • Khine Swe Swe Han, University of Durban, South Africa (Observer)
  • Klas Udekwu, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Sweden (Observer)
  • Swapna Uplekar, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), Switzerland (Observer)
  • Maarten van Dongen, AMR Insights, Netherlands (Observer)
  • Philippe Vanhems, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Lyon Sud, France (Observer)
  • Kevin Vanneste, The Belgian Institute for Health, Belgium (Observer)
  • Jordi Vila, University of Barcelona, Spain (Observer)
  • Fiona Walsh, Maynooth University, Ireland (Observer)

With the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) worldwide, and few novel antimicrobials being developed, it is becoming more and more important to quickly, accurately and inexpensively diagnose infections and the precise microbe causing them in order to treat them with the right antimicrobial and prevent the emergence of further resistance. However, the path to developing such diagnostics is full of challenges, so much that the space between developing a working prototype and getting a diagnostic used in patients is often called the "valley of death". Our network, B2B2B AMRDx, brings together a diverse group of researchers from universities (bench), hospitals (bedside), for-profits (business), governments and nonprofits (beyond), to tackle some of these challenges. We have expertise in human, animal, and environmental AMR, and come from 20 different countries. Our goals are as follows. First, we create a comprehensive online AMR Diagnostics Developer Directory (ADDD) to facilitate exchange of ideas in the field. Second, we extend the JPIAMR Seq4AMR Virtual Benchmarking Platform (VBP) to allow diagnostics developers to systematically evaluate their diagnostics on a collection of high-quality genotypes (genomic data) and phenotypes (antimicrobial resistance data) and identify their strengths and weaknesses. Third, we identify new policy directions that can support diagnostics development and adoption by accounting for the public health benefits of using AMR diagnostics. These developments will help AMR diagnostics cross the "valley of death" and help patients.

Call

2022 - Diagnostics and Surveillance Networks