Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 37
37
Accepted
UK's subscription model alone insufficient to significantly impact global investment in new antibiotics.
Conclusion
In particular, it not yet clear whether the subscription model will be effective in driving investment in new antibiotics, especially as the UK makes up only 3% of the global market for antibiotics. When we asked NHS England about this, it told us that it agrees the UK’s subscription model alone will not be enough to make a significant impact, and that it is important that other countries also work to introduce similar models.95 Wastewater and sewage
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and will continue to encourage other countries to implement pull incentives for antibiotics via G7/G20, while also commissioning an evaluability assessment from July 2025 to early 2026 and committing to publish assessment scores for contracted products from Spring 2026.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
7.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Target implementation date: Spring 2026 7.2 Building on the UK’s G7 Presidency leadership on antibiotic pull incentives in 2021, the government continues to encourage other countries to pilot and implement pull incentives for antimicrobial products, including via the G7 and G20, to achieve the desired impact on global R&D antibiotic innovation. The government is fostering technical exchange with like-minded countries and sharing UK learnings. This includes participation of workshops and international working groups, such as those hosted by the Global AMR R&D Hub - advocating for partnership working between industry and public sector. 7.3 Working with independent researchers at the NIHR Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit, DHSC has commissioned an evaluability assessment which will take place from July 2025 to early 2026 to assess the quality of data that is available and inform a future evaluation. A future evaluation would investigate the impact of the model on key aspects of antibiotic innovation and distribution, including the pipeline for new antibiotics and the supply chain of antibiotics. 7.4 In the interim, the government is committed to publishing as much material in the public domain about the UK subscription model as possible. This includes the assessment scores for each product that receives a contract, from Spring 2026, to facilitate the evaluation of the overall scheme.