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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.

The NHS has launched plans to expand pioneering subscription-style drug contracts to develop lifesaving antibiotics of the future. It is building on its world-first pilot to incentivise the pharmaceutical industry to develop new antibiotics that could be offered to NHS patients when they need them the most. The consultation has launched almost a year to the day that contracts for two superbug-busting drugs were rolled out as part of a world-first pilot. Cefiderocol and ceftazidime-avibactam, new antibiotics manufactured by Shionogi and Pfizer respectively, were awarded world-first subscription contracts which provided the companies with a fixed annual fee based primarily on the availability of the drugs and their value to the NHS, as opposed to the volumes used. By breaking the link between the payments companies receive and the number of their antibiotics prescribed, the NHS is removing any incentive to overuse antibiotics, decreasing the risk of life-threatening infections, such as sepsis and pneumonia, becoming resistant to treatment.

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 NHS has signed the first-of-its-kind subscription deal for two antimicrobial drugs - cefiderocol and ceftazidime-avibactam, manufactured by Shionogi and Pfizer respectively - that will help around 1700 patients per year with severe bacterial infections. Under this deal, pharmaceutical firms will receive a fixed yearly fee - capped at a level that represents value to taxpayers - in order to incentivise funding for innovation that can generate a pipeline of new antibiotics for NHS patients. NHS said the deal will help patients with serious infections that have evolved so much that antibiotics and other current treatments are no longer effective can be given a potentially life-saving alternative. The drugs will provide a lifeline to patients with life-threatening infections like sepsis, hospital or ventilator pneumonia and blood stream infection. Announcing the deal at NHS ConfedExpo, NHS Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard called the revolutionary subscription deal a game-changer and the latest NHS success in using its commercial power to benefit NHS patients in line with the NHS Long Term Plan. "Superbug-busting drugs on the NHS will save lives and strike a blow in the global battle against antimicrobial resistance," Pritchard said.

The UK government on Thursday (8 May) launched a new plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a global issue that makes infections difficult or impossible to treat. This is the second phase of a series of 5-year national action plans, aimed at supporting the government's 20-year vision to contain and control AMR by 2040. With the launch of this new national action plan, the UK commits to reducing its use of antimicrobials - such as antibiotics, antifungals and antivirals - in humans and animals. Additionally, it aims to strengthen surveillance of drug-resistant infections before they emerge and incentivise industry to develop the next generation of treatments. There are also plans to expand initiatives such as the world-first 'subscription model' for antimicrobials, launched in 2019 as a pilot.