For an Accelerated Response to Bacterial Pandemics
AI-propelled innovation in antimicrobial discovery to protect Canada’s health system
Antibiotics are critical for healthcare
They have extended our lifespan by ~23 years
However, antimicrobial drug resistance (AMR) is on the rise, increasing the risk of serious infections, making even minor surgeries and chemotherapy risky, and threatening the gains of modern medicine.
The impact of AMR in Canada
25%
of infections resist
first-line antibiotics
5,400
deaths per year directly
from AMR
$1.4 billion
added to annual
healthcare costs
$2 billion
lost yearly in GDP due to
AMR workforce impact
New antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action are needed to overcome AMR
About PandemicStop-AI
PandemicStop-AI is a pan-Canadian consortium with a vision to build a future free from the threat of AMR.
Leveraging expertise in AI, drug discovery, microbiology and chemistry from across Canada’s academic, public and private sectors, our aim is to deliver an effective and scalable pipeline for AI-propelled discovery and optimized synthesis of new antibiotics, for rapid response to current and future AMR pandemics.
The consortium by numbers
16
Principal
investigators
8
Canadian
academic institutions
4
Public
partners
7
Industry
partners
Mission
To drive AI-propelled innovation in antimicrobial discovery to protect Canadians’ health and safeguard our healthcare system.
Projected impact
Outpacing antimicrobial resistance through discovery and development of next-generation antimicrobials for Canada and the world.
Vision
A world where antimicrobial-resistant pathogens no longer pose a threat to human health or the well-being of society.
The vision of PandemicStop-AI to overcome AMR
Overcoming the current AMR pandemic
We face a “silent” pandemic of AMR, causing ~5 million deaths per year. Yet, no new classes of antibiotics have been approved in decades. Our approach of AI-driven drug discovery charts unexplored chemical space to identify tomorrow’s antibiotics.
Preparedness for future AMR pandemics
COVID-19 exposed vulnerabilities in the speed at which we develop, test, and produce novel drugs in response to public health crises. To prepare for the next superbug-driven pandemic, we are building a pandemic-ready pipeline with accelerated experimental platforms, pre-trained AI models, validated bacterial targets, and scalable synthesis routes.
Acknowledgment of funding
This initiative is funded by the Canada Biomedical Research Fund
and Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund (Grant CBRF2-2023-00107)
PandemicStop-AI thanks all partner institutions as well as public and private partners for their support.
