Obama offers $20m reward for resistance breakthrough

US President Barack Obama has signed an Executive Order aimed at tackling antibiotic resistance – with a $20m prize on offer in exchange for a breakthrough.

On the signing of the Order, John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy described the problem of resistance as “a serious domestic and international challenge to human and animal health, national security, and the economy”.

The crux of the order is to encourage the development of quick, simple tests that doctors can use to diagnose antibiotic-resistant infections.

The prize will be funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

The first step is for the specially appointed task force (a combination of members of various government departments) to submit a five year plan by February 2015.

The order specifies that although surveillance and monitoring of prescriptions is a priority, the task force must also provide a platform for R&D into new antibiotics and diagnostics.