TO BE PUBLISHED May 2026
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This conference will examine next steps for tackling antimicrobial resistance in the UK. Discussion will focus on the way forward for successfully incentivising research and innovation, following publication of the Life Sciences Sector Plan, as well as priorities for public health, surveillance, stewardship, and raising awareness.
Policy & developing a preventative approach
It will bring stakeholders and policymakers together to consider progress and next steps for the UK 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance 2024 to 2029. Delegates will examine latest thinking on reducing reliance on antimicrobials, and unintended exposure, including practical steps that can be taken to shift towards a more preventative approach, and priorities for supporting the NHS and private workforce to embed the practice of targeted prescribing.
Training, coordination & regulation
Sessions will look at priorities for workforce training, examining the impact of toolkits such as TARGET, opportunities for alignment between primary and secondary care, and the role of community pharmacists in reducing unnecessary antimicrobial use going forward. Regulatory frameworks and pathways for addressing the rise in private prescribing will also be examined.
Detection & reducing inequalities
Looking at surveillance and response priorities, areas for discussion include next steps for detecting and addressing outbreaks, as well as for reducing inequalities amongst populations with the highest AMR burden levels, taking into account the UK Health Security Agency’s recent English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilisation and resistance report. Delegates will assess strategies for better understanding modifiable risk factors, and for developing effective interventions to tackle widening disparities.
Latest thinking on strengthening coordination between agricultural, health, and environmental strategies will be considered, as well as next steps for building and maintaining international partnerships, following the discontinuation of the Fleming Fund.
Research & innovation
Attendees will also examine the role of regulatory frameworks in shaping innovation, supply and access, including the impact of updated clinical trial regulations on research and development. Economic incentives will be assessed, with discussion on what has been learned so far from the UK’s Antimicrobial Products Subscription Model, as well as on international models where push and pull incentives are being utilised.
Innovation will be a further focus, looking at integrating new approaches to therapeutics, diagnostics and surveillance, including next steps for the role of artificial intelligence in driving drug discovery, and whole gene-sequencing of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. Ways forward for developing phage-based medicines will also be assessed, in light of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s recently published Regulatory considerations for therapeutic use of bacteriophages in the UK.
Overview of areas for discussion
- next steps for policy, surveillance and data integration:
- the UK 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance 2024 to 2029 - measuring progress so far and going forward - next steps following the Life Sciences Sector Plan
- monitoring resistance patterns and coordinating strategies across human, animal, and environmental health
- reducing infection through a shift toward a preventative health system - strategies for identifying and addressing inequalities in AMR impact
- stewardship and prescribing practices:
- development of prescribing guidelines - strengthening workforce education and public awareness
- coordination across primary and secondary care setting - building and maintaining routes for international collaboration
- research and innovation:
- incentives and the impact of the UK Antimicrobial Products Subscription Model, in the context of wider discussions of medicine pricing
- international approaches to push and pull incentives - key considerations for clinical trials in light of updated UK regulations
- diagnostics, therapeutics and surveillance:
- the pipeline for new antimicrobials, alternative therapies and rapid diagnostic tools
- next steps for phage-based medicines following the announcement of a £1m MHRA sandbox fund to support research - the role of whole-genome sequencing going forward
