Plain English Summary

The NHS is working on a project to explore new ways of paying for antibiotic medicines. The payments will be based on their value to the NHS rather than the quantity of antibiotic used within the NHS. EEPRU has developed and applied methods for estimating the health and cost impacts of using new antibiotics. This raises the question of how much the health system should pay for different antibiotics with different values. 

The project will review data and develop analyses to assess the effects of payment on long-term population health and health care costs. The findings are intended to inform payment policies for antibiotics and other new medicines. When setting payments, it is important to reflect the long-term value of new antimicrobials. This will depend on how many people develop infections resistant to existing treatments in the future, and changes in the price of drugs over time. It is also important to reflect how payment levels may affect drug manufacturers' choices to invest in future drug research and development. Finally, when deciding on payments for antibiotics, it's crucial to keep in mind the need to allocate NHS funds for other healthcare needs. This research will address these features of payment design.