UK’s New 5-Year AMR Strategy: A Timely Call to Action for Smarter Diagnostics

The UK Government has launched its new 5-year plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), setting out a bold agenda to reduce the spread of resistant infections, preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics, and drive innovation in diagnostics and treatment. Read the full announcement

At DRUiD, we welcome this plan as a timely and necessary commitment to addressing one of the most urgent threats to public health—both in the UK and globally.

A key priority in the strategy is improving the use of diagnostics to support targeted prescribing and reduce unnecessary antibiotic use. This is exactly where DRUiD’s work is focused: developing rapid, point-of-care tests that can detect infections and inform treatment decisions within minutes—not days.

Our current priority is a diagnostic for urinary tract infections (UTIs), one of the most common reasons for empirical antibiotic use in primary care. By providing fast, reliable results that include antimicrobial resistance profiling, we aim to support clinicians and patients in making smarter, more effective treatment choices.

The plan’s emphasis on data-driven decision-making, collaborative innovation, and a One Health approach aligns directly with DRUiD’s mission to build diagnostics that protect human and animal health while safeguarding our antibiotic resources for future generations.

We look forward to contributing to this next phase of the UK’s AMR response—and working with partners across government, health systems, and industry to turn policy into real-world impact.