The new trial will be led by the National Institute for
Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
and NHS England and NHS Improvement.
It will test a ‘subscription’ style model that pays
pharmaceutical companies upfront for access to drugs based on
their usefulness to the NHS.
This will make it more attractive for companies to invest the
estimated £1 billion it costs to develop a new drug, as they
can be reassured they will still be paid for the drug even
though it may be stored for reserves.
Currently, drugs companies are paid by volume of antibiotics
sold, while the NHS is trying to reduce their use to prevent
antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Low returns on investment in development mean industry is
reluctant to invest in the research and clinical trials
necessary to bring new antibiotics to market.
NICE and
NHS England and NHS Improvement are calling for companies to
identify products to be considered for the initial phase
of the test.
The work will be evaluated from the start and findings will
be shared with the rest of the world so that other healthcare
systems can test similar models.
Antibiotics have started to fail, with resistant bacteria
already causing more than 700,000 deaths globally every year,
making it vital that antibiotics are used only when needed.
Today’s announcements follows the government’s 2040 AMR vision and 5-year
national action plan, published in January, and the
appointment of as the first UK
Special Envoy on AMR.
The latest phase of the ‘Keep Antibiotics Working Campaign’
will launch at the beginning of coughs and colds season this
October to help reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics.
Health and Social Care Secretary, , said:
There is no greater threat to global health than
drug-resistant infections, yet there have been no major new
antibiotic drug classes discovered since the 1980s.
Imagine a world in which a papercut can lead to infection
that can’t be controlled. We must stop that from
happening. Tackling superbugs needs global leadership
and peoples’ lives depend on us finding a new way forward.
Our NHS is in a unique position to take a global lead in
testing new payment models. We will take the lead but this
is a global problem and we cannot succeed alone.
I am proud the UK is taking the first steps towards a
solution and I am urging the rest of the world to join us
in the fight against superbugs.
Health Minister said:
Having a full pipeline of antimicrobials is critical in our
efforts to address AMR, but currently not
enough pharmaceutical companies are investing in the
development of new drugs.
This project is an important step but it will only address
global market failure if other countries do the same, which
is why we want to involve as many countries as we can and
share our learning from this work.
Today we are sending a strong signal to the rest of the
world that there are workable models to stimulate
investment in these vital medicines and that together we
can tackle AMR.
