Financial Times: U.K. shows leadership on anti-microbial resistance
Editorial Board

“…The potentially most transformative element [to address the market failure around antimicrobial resistance (AMR)] is a new pricing model pilot that changes the way the U.K. National Health Service purchases antibiotics. It will pay drug developers upfront, based on how valuable the medicines are to the health service rather than on the quantity of the drugs sold. The de-linking of price from volume is intended to make it affordable for pharmaceutical companies to develop new antibiotics. This reflects a more sophisticated understanding of the real value of a medicine — one that is based on its importance for public health rather than its price. The U.K. represents only three percent of the world’s drugs market, so it will not have much of an impact on its own. But it is seen as a leader in AMR so other countries will be looking to see how the new pricing model works. The U.K. therefore has a particular responsibility to ensure that the policy is implemented effectively and funded adequately. Global public health depends on a coordinated response. Put simply, humanity cannot afford to lose this weapon of mass protection” (1/28).