NHS lands breakthrough in global battle against superbugs

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.