UK Launches “Pioneering” Payment Scheme to Tackle AMR

London, United Kingdom – In a world-first, the UK is testing a pioneering scheme to provide new antibiotics to NHS patients by offering to pay pharmaceutical companies upfront for their contributions.

As part of the project, the NHS is offering two contracts to pay pharmaceutical companies at the start of their work for access to innovative antibiotics, incentivizing them to bring new classes of the drugs to patients across the UK for the first time in almost 30 years.

Drugs for bloodstream infections, sepsis and hospital-acquired pneumonia are among the meds that are of particular interest for the scheme, as they are antibiotics that can provide alternative treatment options for serious infections.

The need for incentive in this area is important, as the high cost and low returns associated with antibiotic research and development makes it commercially unattractive for companies.

The new ‘subscription-style’ payment model for antibiotics and will be made available to UK patients as soon as possible, potentially as early as 2022, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock commenting: “Resistance to antibiotics is increasing and it’s imperative we take urgent action on a national and global scale to protect future generations.

This new way of buying antibiotics for patients in the NHS breaks down restrictive barriers to offer companies a vital springboard to foster innovation and develop potentially life-saving new products.

So far, two drugs that have proven to be both safe and effective will be selected to undergo health technology assessment (HTA) by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) throughout 2021, using adapted methods for antimicrobials.

Professor Gill Leng, Chief Executive, NICE, added: “We are witnessing the effects of one global pandemic, which has highlighted the threat of communicable disease.  Alongside the threat of coronavirus is the increasing risk posed by antimicrobial resistance, exacerbated by a sparse antimicrobial development pipeline.

“That is why we need to incentivize investment in innovative antimicrobial drug development as soon as possible. Along with our key partners, we have committed to develop and test innovative models for the evaluation and purchase of antimicrobials, applying advanced evaluation methods that recognize their full value to public health.”

Development in this area is essential, as few new classes of antibiotic have been discovered since the 1980s and, for most antimicrobials, there are few replacement or alternative products in development and even fewer that target priority pathogens.

In May 2019, a UN report revealed that if left unchecked, antimicrobial resistance could cause as many as 10 million deaths per year by 2050.

In June the same year, the UK Government announced the renewal of its ambition to tackle the issue in the UK, including the appointment of a global expert alongside the millions of capital funding for UK-led research, with outgoing chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, as UK special envoy on the matter.

A total of £32 million has been committed to accelerate the UK’s work in the global fight against AMR, which ten leading research centers across the country can now use to explore new ways to inform prescribing and identify patterns of resistance.