The SPEARHEAD project, led by the University of Basel Innovation Office with funding from the Innosuisse Flagship programme, brings together research institutions (University of Basel, SUPSI), university hospitals (UKBB, USB, CHUV), and industry partners (Novartis, SwissRe, SWICA) to develop novel approaches to strengthen antimicrobialsStewardship. The project builds on existing initiatives and expertise in pandemic response to rapidly deploy digital solutions to mitigate the clinical, economic, and societal impacts of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by enabling real-time data flow to and from decision-makers, better use of big data for risk stratification, timely diagnostics that can leapfrog centralized laboratory infrastructure, citizen and community engagement, and early consideration of resource needs and efficiency to inform prioritization of candidate technologies. The tools being developed within SPEARHEAD are aimed to be easily adaptable to address future emerging infections and thereby result in a more resilient healthcare system and society.

ECPM leads the Societal and Health Economics work package of SPEARHEAD that aims to analyse the cost-effectiveness of the piloted solutions, inform their scale-up, and consider their broader societal and equity implications.