The NHS is set to roll out two ‘superbug’ busting drugs through a world-first, pioneering subscription deal that will help tackle antimicrobial resistance, the head of the NHS announced today.
The deal, initially for two antimicrobial drugs, means 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.
These drugs will provide a lifeline to patients with life-threatening infections like sepsis, hospital or ventilator pneumonia and blood stream infection, with increasing numbers of people developing drug resistance as germs evolve to become resistant to current antibiotics.
A study from the University of Oxford published this year estimates that around 1.2 million deaths globally were caused by antibiotic resistance and experts predict this will only grow.
This first-of-its-kind NHS scheme means 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.
Around 1,700 patients per year with severe bacterial infections will be eligible for the drugs, called cefiderocol and ceftazidime–avibactam, manufactured by Shionogi and Pfizer respectively.
This new style of agreement with the drug manufacturers will ensure they work in partnership with the NHS to protect their longevity, using them when necessary but preserving their effectiveness for future years.
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.
NHS Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard, said: “Superbug-busting drugs on the NHS will save lives and strike a blow in the global battle against antimicrobial resistance.
“Until now, innovation in antibiotics has been limited, but this pioneering NHS subscription scheme aims to turn the tide by working with pharmaceutical firms to make sure we have these superbug-battling drugs ready and available to those patients who need them most.
“This world-leading agreement not only provides a template for other countries to follow, incentivising antimicrobial drug innovation globally, as we collectively deal with this threat to modern medicine and public health, but also gives new hope to thousands of patients who previously had no treatment options left.
“We have shown through the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the power of working together, combining our expertise across industries, in order to tackle emerging risks – whether that is COVID-19 or the very real threat of antimicrobial resistance – head on”.
This revolutionary deal meets a key commitment set out in the NHS Long Term Plan and has been developed as a result of a UK-wide project between NHS England, NICE and DHSC.
It is the first time any health system in the world has successfully assessed the value of an antimicrobial in this way and is aimed at incentivising further innovation among drug firms to beat superbugs.
