Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a public health threat; infections with resistant organisms are estimated to cause over 650.000 infections and over 30.000 deaths in Europe. AMR is associated with antibiotic consumption: appropriate prescribing of antibiotics is key in combating AMR.
We work in a multidisciplinary consortium, which involves clinicians, microbiologists, health economists, social scientists, and industry, to help build the medical and economic case for rapid diagnostics as a public good in the fight against antibiotic resistance.
In recent years there has been increased attention for AMR-related problems, however, antibiotic prescribing rates remain high for patients with community-acquired acute respiratory tract infections (CA-ARTI).
To fight the threat of AMR in the context of respiratory tract infections in the community setting, it has been suggested that more targeted prescriptions of antibiotics, informed by quick diagnostics, are an important tool. Increasingly, the economic case for reducing AMR is being made, in light of the evidence of significant costs of AMR for society. Health-economic analyses for novel diagnostics are much less well-established than for drugs, making it more difficult to assess and implement these diagnostics.
VALUE-DX is part of UMCG research group Global Health
The UMCG is the academic lead partner in the project's work package 5, in which the economic value, policies and innovative Funding Models related to diagnostics are researched.
We are the first Innovative Medicines Initiative project initiated by six in vitro diagnostic companies who joined with 20 non-industry partners to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and improve patient outcomes. Our partners include academic, industry and (inter-)governmental organisations.
The research in the UMCG will focus on developing innovative health-economic models, which will capture long-term economic effects, as well as the influence more targeted antibiotic prescriptions, made possible with these diagnostics, may have on AMR.
Data will be used from the two clinical trials performed within VALUE-Dx (the PRUDENCE and ADEQUATE trials) and public databases. This model will be used to determine whether implementing diagnostics for respiratory tract infections in community care is cost-effective across a wide range of countries.
1 April 2020
This systematic review has three aims:
Together with researchers from the University of La Rioja, Spain, almost 130 health-economic analyses for infectious disease diagnostics were critically assessed.
5 November 2020
Simon van der Pol presented a poster at ISPOR Europe in Copenhagen on the progress made with a systematic review of health-economic approaches for diagnostic-driven antibiotic use.
1 April 2019
the VALUE-Dx kick-off takes place in Madrid, Spain. This ambitious project funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative aims to research novel diagnostics in community care to combat antimicrobial resistance. Maarten Postma, Thea van Asselt and Simon van der Pol introduced the aims of work package 5 and provided a course on health economics and specifically, the health-economics of diagnostics.
