Longitude Prize Tackles Antibiotic Resistance

November 28, 2014 – Antibiotics have been the principle means by which humanity fights off bacterial infections. But the over subscribing of these life saving drugs has given the bugs the ability to mount defenses. The result – a rising tide of antimicrobial resistance.

The Longitude Prize, is named after The Longitude Act of 1714, an act of the British Parliament offering 20,000 pounds to an individual or group who discovered a way to pinpoint east and west location when at sea. Although latitude was easy to figure out based on the angle of the Sun, longitude posed an entirely different challenge. The reward was finally paid out over several installments culminating in 1765. Several individuals received a portion of the total purse. The solutions involved the invention of various chronometers, ships clocks, and lunar distance measurement.

Three hundred years later the resurrection of the Longitude Prize involves a purse much larger than 20,000 pounds. A 10 million pound prize is up for grabs. The challenge – “to create a cost-effective, accurate, rapid, and easy-to-use test for bacterial infections that will allow health professionals worldwide to administer the right antibiotics at the right time.”

So far eleven organizations are in pursuit of the 10 million pound purse. The rules are defined as follows:

1. The test must provide the necessary information to “identify an effective antibiotic or combination of antibiotics” targeting a common globally-occurring infection.
2. The test must improve on “currently available existing diagnostic approaches” so that it improves antibiotic treatment decisions.
3. The test must be accurate to “eliminate harmful treatment decisions.”
4. The test must be affordable for purchase and use in all global markets.
5. The test must be fast providing results in less than 30 minutes.
6. The test must be deliverable in any global healthcare setting and require minimal healthcare training and resources for those who administer it to interpret its results.
7. The test must be capable of being manufactured on a global scale.
8. The test must be safe for all humans who give it and for those to whom its administered.
9. The test must include a data record keeping component as part of the total solution.

As a prize offered in the United Kingdom, the winners should demonstrate the direct economic and social benefit to the country. To that effect those entering the contest should have a relationship established with an organization or company located in the united Kingdom.

Those who contest to win the prize must meet the charitable objectives of Nesta, one of the sponsors of the prize. Other sponsors include Innovate UK, the BBC, the National Maritime Museum, the Science Museum, Sciencewise, the National Schools Partnership and Amazon in the United Kingdom.

The prize opened a little over a week ago. on The application deadline is four months with first assessment of entries planned for May 31, 2015. The prize will remain open until won, or if no winner, has an announced final deadline of December 31, 2019. The top entry gets 8 million pounds. Promising entries will each receive 2 million pounds. The money received must be used to develop and market the winning solution.

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