First antimicrobial drugs purchased via new ‘subscription’ payment model

The first antimicrobial drugs have been purchased via the UK’s ‘subscription-type’ payment model, designed to help secure a pipeline of future treatment options for NHS patients.

The payment model, led by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), NHS England and NHS Improvement, will pay pharmaceutical companies upfront for access to medicines based on their usefulness to the NHS.

NHS England and Improvement said that two treatments, cefiderocol (Fetcroja) manufactured by Shionogi, and ceftazidime with avibactam (Zavicefta) manufactured by Pfizer, have become the first two drugs to be selected to move to an innovative health technology evaluation process as part of the payment system.