7 May 2021 - Research to develop novel antibiotics has in recent years been seen as commercially unattractive due to limited use of any new antimicrobials and associated poor return on investment. 

To support international work to tackle antimicrobial resistance and encourage investment in drug development, NICE are working with NHS England and NHS Improvement to test a new health technology evaluation process for antimicrobials. 

This value-based pilot will involve a subscription payment model and two antimicrobial products have been selected for the pilot – ceftazidime/avibactam (Zavicefta, Pfizer) launched in 2017 and cefiderocol (Fetcroja, Shionogi) launched in 2020.

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