UK launches subscription style model for antibiotics to encourage new development

The UK has launched its subscription style payment model for antibiotics, with the first two drugs to be selected and evaluated next year.

The scheme hopes to incentivise companies to invest in researching and developing new antibiotics in the face of growing antibiotic resistance. It will see pharmaceutical companies paid upfront for their products, based on the value it provides to the NHS rather than how much is used.

The scheme was first announced in July 2019,1 but officially launched 17 June 2020 after nearly a year of set up, in which the Department of Health and Social Care worked closely with the …