UAntwerp and partners fight against antibiotic resistance

UAntwerp, bioMérieux, and Wellcome Trust to coordinate VALUE-Dx, a European Public-Private Partnership to fight antimicrobial resistance through diagnostics. The University of Antwerp, bioMérieux and Wellcome Trust announced the launch of VALUE-Dx, the first Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) project initiated by six in vitro diagnostic companies who join forces with 20 non-industry partners to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and improve patient outcomes. The purpose of VALUE-Dx is to transform medical practice to achieve more personalised, evidence-based antibiotic prescription and use in community care settings through the widespread use of clinical and cost-effective innovative diagnostic strategies. VALUE-Dx is co-funded by the European Commission (IMI), the Wellcome Trust and private companies, with a total budget of around 14 million euros over 4 years. Diagnostics are deemed instrumental in guiding health care professionals in treating infectious diseases. However, in community care settings antibiotics are often overused and unnecessarily prescribed, accelerating AMR. VALUE-Dx is a European-wide approach to generate evidence on the medical, economic, and public health value of diagnostics in tackling AMR.