The AI AMR Research programmes set to launch in early 2026 take aim at six of the most urgent challenges in antimicrobial resistance, combining GSK’s scientific leadership with Imperial College London’s deep research expertise.
These coordinated efforts span the discovery of new antibiotics, improved treatments for deadly fungal infections, advanced modeling of immune responses, forecasting of pathogen emergence, improved prescription practices, and policy engagement.
Each programme will operate over a three-year funding cycle and together they represent one of the most ambitious attempts yet to counter a crisis where one in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections already involves antibiotic-resistant strains.
This broad, multi-disciplinary approach reflects recognition that AMR cannot be solved by isolated breakthroughs and instead demands a complete rethinking of how the world develops and deploys antimicrobial tools.
A major focus of the AI AMR Research portfolio is tackling Gram-negative bacteria, long considered the most challenging threat due to their uniquely fortified cell walls and powerful efflux pumps that eject antibiotics before they can act.
Pathogens such as E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae have repeatedly defeated drug-development attempts, leaving clinicians with few effective options as resistance accelerates. The new initiative aims to change this trajectory by applying supercomputing capabilities and high-throughput automation to generate unprecedented datasets.
Chemists, microbiologists, and AI specialists from Imperial’s Drug Discovery Hub will work alongside GSK scientists and Agilent Technologies to identify new molecular strategies, with machine learning tools helping forecast which compounds have the highest likelihood of success against multi-drug-resistant infections.
Another critical arm of the AI AMR Research initiative targets fungal infections, a category often overlooked despite mortality rates on par with major bacterial pathogens. Aspergillus infections alone affect roughly two million people each year and kill nearly half of high-risk ICU patients.
Only four classes of antifungal drugs are available and they all target similar biological pathways, which accelerates resistance. The fungal research programme will use AI to highlight overlooked weaknesses in fungal biology, guiding the development of new drugs designed with greater precision.
This effort could reshape the field and redirect global attention toward fungal AMR, which currently receives far less investment and awareness despite its growing public health strain.
Another innovative component of the AI AMR Research portfolio involves modeling the human immune response, particularly for Staphylococcus aureus, responsible for more than a million deaths every year.
Despite decades of attempts, no successful vaccine currently exists, in part because researchers have lacked human-relevant data showing how the immune system behaves during real infections.
The new programme will generate this missing data by recreating surgical site infections in controlled environments, allowing scientists to study infection progression and immune response dynamics with precision. These insights could finally unlock a viable vaccine pathway, reducing antibiotic use and slowing resistance emergence.
Beyond disease biology, forecasting and prevention play major roles in the AI AMR Research strategy. One programme is dedicated to predictive modeling that combines disease surveillance, environmental data, travel patterns, agricultural antibiotic usage, and climate indicators.
These AI-driven models aim to predict where resistant pathogens are likely to emerge or spread, empowering public health officials to intervene early rather than reacting after outbreaks spiral. This forward-looking approach reflects a growing recognition that AMR is not only a medical problem but an environmental and societal one shaped by interconnected global systems.
Optimizing antibiotic prescriptions forms another critical pillar of the initiative. Overuse and misuse remain among the strongest drivers of AMR, with broad-spectrum antibiotics often prescribed when narrower options or non-antibiotic treatments would suffice.
AI-supported clinical tools under the AI AMR Research portfolio will analyze patient records, regional resistance data, and infection characteristics to guide clinicians toward the most effective and responsible choice. Improving prescription accuracy not only protects today’s patients but preserves antibiotic utility for future generations.
Leaders from both institutions see the collaboration as a turning point. GSK Chief Scientific Officer Tony Wood highlighted that combining GSK’s antimicrobial experience with Imperial’s research strength, advanced datasets, and AI-driven methods creates new opportunities to discover drugs in a space where progress has historically been slow and reactive.
Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London, framed the initiative as “convergence science,” noting that no single group can overcome AMR alone. The programme’s open-science commitments will make key datasets and models accessible to researchers worldwide, allowing scientific progress to accelerate through shared knowledge rather than siloed efforts.
The timing of the AI AMR Research announcement during World AMR Awareness Week and coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the Nobel Prize for penicillin underscores the historic moment. Fleming’s breakthrough transformed modern medicine, yet the effectiveness of antibiotics now faces existential risk.
With GSK advancing a promising portfolio targeting WHO and US CDC priority pathogens and the Fleming Initiative committing £100 million overall, the new partnership signals a bold and necessary shift toward proactive, globally coordinated AMR defense.
Explore how artificial intelligence and collaborative research models are confronting one of humanity’s most urgent health threats, visit ainewstoday.org for comprehensive coverage of antimicrobial resistance breakthroughs, AI-driven drug discovery, vaccine development innovations, and the scientific partnerships determining whether antibiotics remain effective tools or become obsolete against evolving superbugs!
