The Innovative Veterinary Solutions for Antimicrobial Resistance (InnoVet-AMR), a collaboration with the UK government’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), is a 4-year, CAD $28.4 million program for research on innovative veterinary solutions to reduce the use of antimicrobials in the livestock, poultry, and aquaculture industries in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Widespread use of antimicrobials is creating resistance to the drugs, which threatens their long-term viability for both animals and humans. Various technologies and products are being developed by program grantees, ranging from vaccines to phages, microbial-derived products and phytochemicals. The initiative is currently in its second phase, funding 14 projects across Asia, Africa and Latin America. One of InnoVet-AMR’s main workstreams is advancement in the product development pipeline of the most promising InnoVet-AMR innovations towards commercialization. As with most primary research, the InnoVet-AMR grantees face the prospect of a “valley of death” in which they fail to successfully bridge the gap between developing promising basic research and taking it fully to commercialization. This is made more challenging by the nature of many of the supported innovations, which are very new and thus lack an established regulatory pathway for approval, the lack of prioritization of commercialization from the outset of the research, and the lack of engagement of industry partners.

MSA was engaged by IDRC to support InnoVet-AMR grantees in commercializing their innovations, including vaccines, phages, microbial-derived products, and phytochemicals, by bridging the gap between promising research and market entry. MSA's support spans grantee selection, market analysis, industry and investor mapping, business case development, and facilitated engagement with manufacturers and investors across 15 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America