The UK is embarking on an ambitious £45m programme that will use artificial intelligence to speed up the discovery of new treatments for drug-resistant infections. The initiative, a partnership between the Fleming Initiative and pharmaceutical firm GSK, brings together cutting-edge technology and microbiology in an effort to stay ahead of the rising global threat posed by superbugs.
Drug resistance is escalating at a pace that has experts alarmed, with antibiotic-resistant infections believed to cause around a million deaths worldwide each year. Researchers at Loughborough and Imperial College London will focus particularly on Gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, organisms that are notoriously difficult to treat due to their protective outer membranes and abilities to repel or expel antibiotics. By testing thousands of different molecular structures, scientists aim to map precisely which chemicals can enter and remain inside these bacteria – data that will then be used to train AI systems.
The hope is that AI will condense years of manual laboratory work into rapid predictions, identifying how promising antibiotic candidates can be altered to slip past bacterial defences. Dr Andrew Edwards of Imperial College London warned that the consequences of untreatable infections are already visible, including cases from the conflict in Ukraine where amputations have been required because no antibiotics were effective. He believes that with a handful of strong new drugs, medicine could regain the upper hand against resistance.
Alongside antibiotic discovery, AI will also be used to forecast how superbugs evolve and spread, similar to modelling weather patterns. The collaboration is additionally expanding its reach to deadly fungal infections, starting with Aspergillus, which can be fatal for people with weakened immune systems. GSK’s chief scientific officer Tony Wood said the programme aims to unlock new methods of anticipating and countering resistance, helping protect patients long into the future.
