Longitude Prize of 1714
In 1714, the British Government issued the Longitude Act, offering a £20,000 prize (equivalent to £1.5m today) to anyone who could solve the issue of accurately calculating longitude at sea. Without this ability, ships struggled to stay on course resulting in frequent tragedies and hindering global navigation. The challenge was solved by a clockmaker named John Harrison with his invention of the Marine Chronometer, a solution which changed the world.
Longitude Prize on AMR
Three hundred years after the original Longitude Prize, the first new transformative Longitude Prize was created, this time focused on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This prize sought a new diagnostic test that could rapidly tell whether an infection is bacterial, if an antibiotic is needed to treat it, and if so, which specific antibiotic would be the most suitable and all at point of care, within 45 minutes.
Over 250 teams competed globally over the decade-long Prize and a winner crossed the finish line in June 2024, the PA-100 AST System from Sysmex Astrego, a revolutionary piece of diagnostic technology that will transform antibiotic prescribing in primary care.
Longitude Prize on Dementia
The Longitude Prize on Dementia, delivered with Alzheimer’s Society and Innovate UK, is a prize to drive the creation of AI tools that help people live independently for longer. A total of £3m has been awarded in seed funding and development grants to the most promising solutions with a £1m first prize to be awarded in 2026.