Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of new antimicrobial therapeutics developed by SMEs.

The United Kingdom’s 2024 to 2029 national action plan (NAP) to confront antimicrobial resistance (AMR) includes a commitment to work across sectors to develop new antimicrobials. The NAP also acknowledges the potential of alternative therapies, such as bacteriophage, also known as phage, therapy, in combating AMR.

NHS England launched the UK-wide subscription model for antimicrobial products in August 2024, which incentivises the development of new antibiotics through de-linking payments for products from the volumes used. This aims to provide sufficient sale revenues to make it commercially viable for a company, including small and medium sized enterprises, to bring new products to market. Furthermore, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is committed to working with organisations to support innovation in antimicrobial therapeutics.