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Two new medications which fight drug-resistant superbugs could soon become available to NHS patients in England after the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said they offered value for money. NICE said Cefiderocol and ceftazidime-avibactam will be the first antimicrobial drugs to be made available as part of a subscription-style payment model that incentivises research and development of antimicrobials by testing new approaches to evaluating and paying for them. As part of part of a project with the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care, the new payment model is designed to address the growing threat posed by antimicrobial resistance - a serious global problem - which develops when the pathogens that cause infection evolve to make antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs less effective or stop them from working altogether.

The government has launched the Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF) on Monday (22 May), under which it has announce up to £39 million fund for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) research. Of this new funding package, up to £24 million over four years has been awarded to bolster the UK's partnership with CARB-X - a global AMR research initiative - to support the continued early development of invaluable new antibiotics, vaccines, rapid diagnostics and other products to combat life threatening drug-resistant infections and prevent death and disease across the world. In addition to the CARB-X grant, GAMRIF is investing £5 million over two years into the Global Antibiotic R&D Partnership (GARDP) to develop - and ensure global access to - new antibiotic treatments against major global health priorities. The announcement comes as Health Minister Will Quince attends the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, and Development Minister Andrew Mitchell participates in an event on health leadership and climate change alongside the WHA. They will announce the launch of the UK government's Global Health Framework for 2023-2025, as part of Minister Quince's address at the WHA. Health Minister Will Quince said: Antimicrobial resistance is a major threat to global health and has led to millions of tragic deaths per year, but the Global AMR Innovation Fund is supporting cutting-edge research and developing vital new treatments to prevent death and disease across the world.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) have been tasked to evaluate the impact, safety and effectiveness of the Pharmacy First service, which was launched across England in January 2024. They have been awarded £2.4million by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to generate evidence on the new service that allows pharmacies to provide advice and treatment for seven common conditions without the need for a GP appointment. After consultation, if necessary, a community pharmacist can supply some prescription-only medicines to treat earache, sore throat, sinusitis, impetigo, shingles, infected insect bites or uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women. The LSHTM researcher team will be working together with experts at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Universities of Oxford, Manchester and Nottingham on the project. Dr Rebecca Glover, assistant professor in Antimicrobial Resistance at LSHTM, who will lead the three-year project, said they will evaluate "Pharmacy First's impact on GPs and the wider NHS, pharmacy services and patients."

The current structure of global incentives to develop new antibiotics is insufficient and requires urgent resolution revealed a new report 'Incentivising new antibiotics' by the Office of Health Economics (OHE). OHE analysis demonstrates that on a global level, it is estimated that an effective 10-year incentive would require £3.5bn ($4.2bn) to adequately cover the entire research and development process for a new antibiotic. The report considers how health systems in the UK and around the world can stimulate the research and development (R&D) of new antibiotics. In 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS England initiated an Antimicrobial Resistance pilot with the aim of incentivising pharmaceutical companies to develop new antibiotics by addressing the issues associated with reimbursement, which historically has deterred companies from pursuing AMR research.