Focused Antibiotics

Focused Antibiotics

Funds United Kingdom and global teams redesigning antibiotic strategies while preserving gut microbiome health.

Wellcome Leap's Focused Antibiotics program is a newly announced $50 million initiative targeting one of medicine's most stubborn tradeoffs: antibiotics that kill the target pathogen also devastate the gut microbiome, causing collateral harm that contributes to long-term health consequences. The program challenges performer teams to reformulate existing antibiotics to spare the gut microbiome without sacrificing treatment efficacy. The initial clinical focus covers three high-prevalence indications: urinary tract infections, lower respiratory tract infections, and acute otitis media. Wellcome Leap operates as a global health ARPA, running outcome-driven programs on compressed timelines, and Focused Antibiotics is its first program explicitly targeting the microbiome–antibiotic collision.

The 2026 solicitation uses a two-stage process with explicit feedback between stages. Abstracts of up to 15 pages were due May 15, 2026, with feedback from Wellcome Leap provided by May 30. The full proposal portal opens June 22, 2026, and full 25-page proposals are due June 29, 2026 at 11:59 pm ET. Funding decisions are communicated July 29, 2026, and work commences approximately 30 days after contract signature, placing the earliest start in late 2026. The program is open to performers from any legal jurisdiction; eligible organizations include universities, research institutions, small and large companies (including venture-backed), and government or nonprofit research organizations. Individuals cannot apply directly and must be affiliated with an eligible organization.

Winning proposals must address the core reformulation challenge with credible evidence that gut microbiome collateral damage can be eliminated or substantially reduced while maintaining antimicrobial efficacy against the named pathogens. Applicants should download the official guidelines and proposal template from the Wellcome Leap website, submit the abstract for mandatory feedback, then refine the full proposal in response to that feedback before the June 29 deadline. Contracts are milestone-based, consistent with Wellcome Leap's standard performer model, and successful teams should expect a multi-year execution period beginning late 2026.