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Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), with support from the International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (ICARS), has announced seven awards for the inaugural edition of the C-CAMP One Health AMR Challenge 2025, tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) across human, animal, and environmental health.
This initiative is part of the larger India AMR Innovation Hub programme at C-CAMP that has been officially declared as the Innovation Arm of India’s National Action Plan 2.0 NAP 2.0 on AMR, which includes One Health as one of the country’s focus areas in its AMR combat and prevention strategy.
The selected applicants are awarded by C-CAMP in India with support of ICARS through grant funding, technical, business, regulatory and intellectual property (IP) support, deployment facilitation in India and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
The Challenge aims to accelerate the translation of One Health focused innovations into impactful, scalable and economically viable products and services in India and geographies beyond where the AMR burden is high, and One Health awareness and regulations are among the most susceptible.
The C-CAMP One Health AMR Challenge, launched in July 2025, received about 100 high-quality applications from innovators and startup companies across India, demonstrating the awareness, keenness and depth of India’s biotech innovation community in addressing complex AMR issues beyond new drugs and policies.
In October 2025, ICARS (for AMR scientific parts) and C-CAMP leadership and independent experts convened over two days to discuss and evaluate 26 shortlisted innovations. Seven of these applicants were selected for support.
Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, director-CEO, C-CAMP said, “We have identified a pipeline of seven innovative solutions. These address critical gaps such as point of care tests to distinguish bacterial from viral infections in clinical care especially in respiratory tract infections (RTI), detection of specific RTI pathogens, treatment of pharmaceutical manufacturing units effluents, prevention of antibiotic use in aquaculture and dairy and so on.
Dr Sujith J. Chandy, executive director, ICARS said: The seven selected solutions combine scientific rigour with clear potential for implementation in LMIC settings. We aim to accelerate their transition from promising ideas to real-world impact. This inaugural cohort of innovations reflects India’s growing leadership in AMR mitigation, underscored by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s recent speech highlighting the urgent need to address AMR. We look forward to supporting evidence-based solutions that are preventative, diagnostic, and therapeutic, with the goal of reducing inappropriate antibiotic use for bacterial infections across human, animal, and environmental health.”
The winners are in Human Health, Bigtec Labs for its multiplexed, reverse transcription (RT)-PCR diagnostic solution that addresses antibiotic resistance in lower respiratory tract infections. Muse Diagnostics for TreBle Respire an AI-driven screening platform for early detection of respiratory infections and antimicrobial stewardship. GenePath Diagnostics for affordable, comprehensive, modular, semi-quantitative respiratory pathogens and AMR detection panel for open PCR platforms. Achira Labs for development and validation of a rapid point-of-care test to distinguish bacterial from viral infections in humans: A Strategy to optimize antimicrobial stewardship
In the environment category it is Foundation for Neglected Diseases Research for depletion of antimicrobials and other active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from pharmaceutical/chemical manufacturing unit effluents.
Under Animal Health, it is Ultranutri for circular solutions for shrimp health to tackle AMR through insect-based feed and Chimertech for Quadmastest & Inline Quadmastest (IQ), a rapid, reagent-free early mastitis detection to prevent unwarranted antibiotic use and curb AMR in dairy health.
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