Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of the level of funding available for research into antimicrobial discovery.

The 2024–2029 UK antimicrobial resistance (AMR) National Action Plan sets out the UK’s five-year cross-sector approach to tackling AMR, and prioritises the development of new treatments and their translation into practice.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funds a wide range of funding programmes across the organisation to improve our understanding of AMR and deliver innovative solutions to this growing global challenge. Funding for applied and translational research into antimicrobial discovery is also available from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), funded by DHSC.

UKRI have recently invested £4.8 million in eight transdisciplinary network awards to strengthen collaboration, build research capacity, and lay the foundations for future interdisciplinary research. This was followed by a £15.5 million investment in 2026, jointly supported by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and DHSC, to a portfolio of ambitious programmatic awards addressing the complex drivers and impacts of AMR. The UK is actively engaged with the One Health AMR Horizon Europe partnership, working with international partners to provide enabling resources and translational funding for AMR research and innovation.