The Medical Research Council has announced £10million cross-council initiative to tackle antibiotic resistance.

The MRC’s announcement comes on the same day new research claims superbugs could kill someone every three seconds by 2050 unless something is done. 

The research from RAND Europe and auditors KPMG has warned that without a global plan to revolutionise the use of antibiotics we risk ‘being cast back into the dark ages’. 

The review recommends that a $2bn ($1.4bn) Global Innovation Fund should be established for early stage research and companies should be paid $1bn for every new antibiotic discovered.

The Medical Research Council has announced three large collaborative grants, totalling £9.5m, as part of a cross-council initiative to tackle the growing issue of resistance to antibiotics. 

The awards will use new technology to exploit natural compounds, develop a tool to offer better and faster diagnostics and explore how the body’s own immune system can be boosted to fight infection.

A release from MRC states: “AMR is a significant and growing challenge. The world is facing an increase in the number and type of bacteria resistant to antibiotics alongside stagnation in the development of new antibiotics or viable alternatives. 

“It is clear that an interdisciplinary approach at a global level is needed to tackle the challenge if we are to save millions of lives being lost as a result of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”

The MRC is working with other research councils that form the Research Councils UK to identify research opportunities that cross disciplines to help tackle the rise in AMR.

The latest round of awards has been funded by the MRC, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through the AMR cross-council initiative, established in 2014 as part of a strategic and co-ordinated effort to address the growing problem head on.

Dr Jonathan Pearce, head of infections and immunity at the MRC, said: “If the antibiotics that we rely on to protect us after common surgery like caesareans, joint replacements, chemotherapy and transplant surgery, don’t work, it’s going to have a catastrophic effect on our healthcare system. That’s why it’s so important we continue to invest in research into AMR.

“There is undoubtedly an urgent need to develop new antibiotics but tackling the issue of AMR is about much more. We need to be imaginative and look at what alternatives there are to antibiotic use, and to do this successfully we need to work in partnership. These awards are a concrete example of what the MRC in collaboration with the other research councils is doing across a wide range of disciplines to fight AMR.”