THE University of Oxford has been donated £100 million to fund a new institute for antimicrobial research.

The donation comes from major chemicals company INEOS.

The company said the INEOS Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Resistance will ‘combat the growing global issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which currently causes an estimated 1.5 million excess deaths each year, and could cause over 10 million deaths per year by 2050’.

See also: The grisly link between Witney murder victims and ITV crime thriller

A statement on the INEOS website continued: “The world is fast running out of effective antibiotics as bacteria evolve to develop resistance to our taken-for-granted treatments.

“The rapid progression of antibacterial resistance is a natural process, exacerbated by significant overuse and misuse of antibiotics not only in human populations but especially in agriculture. 

“Meanwhile, the field of new drug discovery has attracted insufficient scientific interest and funding in recent decades meaning no new antibiotics have been successfully developed since the 1980s.”

Read more: David Beckham’s deli saves Post Office

Professor Louise Richardson, vice chancellor of the University of Oxford, said: “This is a wonderfully generous gift for which we are very grateful. It is another example of a powerful partnership between public and private institutions to address global problems.

“Oxford played a crucial role in the early development of antibiotics so it is only appropriate that we take the lead in developing a solution to antimicrobial resistance.”

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of INEOS, added: “Innovative collaboration between industry, academia and government is now crucial to fight against AMR.

“INEOS in its 22 years has become the largest private company in the UK, delivering large-scale, ambitious technical projects with impactful results.

“We are excited to partner with one of the world’s leading research universities to accelerate progress in tackling this urgent global challenge.”

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445.