Horizon Prize - Better use of Antibiotics

Deadline: Aug 17, 2016  
CALL EXPIRED

Topic Description

Scope:

The Horizon Prize for better use of antibiotics is a €1 million prize that will be awarded to the person or team who can most effectively meet the following challenge: develop a rapid test that can identify at the point of care patients with upper respiratory tract infections that can safely be managed  without antibiotics.  In this context "Upper Respiratory Tract Infections" include pharyngitis, sinusitis, otitis as well as bronchitis.

The objectives pursued by this inducement prize are:

−             To reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics in case of viral upper respiratory tract infections.

−             To reduce costs and side effects linked to the use of antibiotics;

−             To delay the emergence of antibiotic resistant organisms;

−             To enable health-care providers to take early decisions in the management of upper respiratory tract infections (rapid initiation and cessation of treatment) and to facilitate the health care provider’s decision not to prescribe antibiotics in case of viral infections and to facilitate patients’ acceptance of not taking antibiotics for viral infections;

−             To tackle the widespread and significant health care issue of respiratory infections; an ageing population, antibiotic resistance and increasing health care costs make this a particularly challenging problem.

Expected results: development of a rapid point-of-care test that will reduce the use of antibiotics in a safe way in patients with upper respiratory tract infections.