Summary
If we want to tackle anti-microbial resistance (AMR), we need to ensure that antibiotics are only used when absolutely necessary. However, data shows that in Europe, 30-50% of antibiotics are prescribed unnecessarily. Greater use of diagnostic tests could help to bring this figure down by ensuring that doctors only prescribe antibiotics when absolutely necessary. However, the wider use of diagnostic tests in healthcare is hampered by a lack of insight into their medical, technological and health economical value. In addition, our knowledge about the barriers to their use remains limited. The goal of VALUE-Dx is to generate evidence on the medical, economic, and public health value of diagnostics in treating AMR. The team, which includes six diagnostic companies, will also develop user requirement specifications of tests. The project will focus on respiratory tract infections in community care settings, as these are a common cause of inappropriate antibiotic use. However, the project’s findings are also likely to be relevant for other common infections, including urinary tract infections, blood stream infections, and respiratory tract infections acquired in hospitals. Ultimately, VALUE-Dx should help to transform medical practice by making it easier for doctors to deliver personalised, evidence-based antibiotic prescriptions thanks to the use of innovative diagnostic strategies.
Achievements & News
Fighting drug-resistant bacteria requires prescribing fewer antibiotics. VALUE-Dx lay out the economic calculations behind decisions to use point-of-care tests.###
Every doctor differs in their level of uncertainty about whether or not to prescribe an antibiotic. When they feel very certain that a patient’s symptoms are caused by a bacterial infection, an antibiotics prescription is often made promptly and confidently. The problem arises when the level of certainty dips below a certain threshold. In these cases, point-of-care tests are a worthy investment for doctors and wider society: beyond avoiding unnecessary prescriptions, they increase doctors’ confidence in their diagnosis, while also sensitising them to the risks of getting it wrong.
Those are the conclusions of a study carried out by the IMI project VALUE-Dx, as laid out in a paper in Health Economics Review. The authors’ cost-benefit calculations describe the level of uncertainty that would drive a hypothetical subset of physicians to use a point-of-care test, as well as the considerations of a hypothetical manufacturer trying to figure out how much doctors might be willing to pay for the equipment. They created an economic model that frames the dilemma in purely monetary terms, in the hope that they can once and for all demonstrate the real-world value of rapid diagnosis in primary care.
Find out more
- Read the article in full
Participants
Show participants on mapEFPIA companies
- Abbott Rapid Dx International Limited, galway, Ireland
- Bio-Rad, Marnes-La-Coquette, France
- Biomerieux SA, Marcy L'Etoile, France
- Janssen Pharmaceutica Nv, Beerse, Belgium
Universities, research organisations, public bodies, non-profit groups
- Academisch Ziekenhuis Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
- Bioaster Fondation De Cooperation Scientifique, Lyon, France
- European Respiratory Society, Lausanne, Switzerland
- European Society Clinical Microbiology Infectious Diseases (Europaische Gesellschaft Fur Klinische Mikrobiologie Infektionskrankheiten), Basel, Switzerland
- Fondazione PENTA - for the treatment and care of children with HIV-ONLUS, Padova, Italy
- Foundation For Innovative New Diagnostics, Geneva, Switzerland
- Gesundheit Osterreich GMBH, Wien, Austria
- National Institute For Health And Care Excellence, Manchester, United Kingdom
- The Health Corporation - Rambam, Haifa, Israel
- The Trustees Of Boston University, Boston Ma, United States
- The University Of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Universidad De La Rioja, Logrono, Spain
- Universita Degli Studi Di Verona, Verona, Italy
- Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
- Universiteit Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium
- University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Zorgonderzoek Nederland Zon, Den Haag, Netherlands
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies (<€500 m turnover)
- Berry Consultants Llp, London, United Kingdom
Associated partners
- Bd Switzerland SARL, Eysins, Switzerland
- The Wellcome Trust Limited, London, United Kingdom
Third parties
- Universitair Ziekenhuis Antwerpen, Edegem, Belgium
| Participants | |
|---|---|
| Name | EU funding in € |
| Academisch Ziekenhuis Groningen | 353 972 |
| Berry Consultants Llp | 69 688 |
| Bioaster Fondation De Cooperation Scientifique | 63 842 |
| European Respiratory Society | 127 226 |
| European Society Clinical Microbiology Infectious Diseases (Europaische Gesellschaft Fur Klinische Mikrobiologie Infektionskrankheiten) | 126 508 |
| Fondazione PENTA - for the treatment and care of children with HIV-ONLUS | 665 349 |
| Foundation For Innovative New Diagnostics | 74 930 |
| Gesundheit Osterreich GMBH | 85 190 |
| Luxembourg Institute Of Health (left the project) | 2 587 |
| National Institute For Health And Care Excellence | 181 631 |
| The Health Corporation - Rambam | 88 409 |
| The Trustees Of Boston University | 15 053 |
| The University Of Edinburgh | 72 916 |
| Universidad De La Rioja | 154 475 |
| Universita Degli Studi Di Verona | 488 786 |
| Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht | 1 152 248 |
| Universiteit Antwerpen | 1 454 223 |
| University of Oxford | 1 584 809 |
| Zorgonderzoek Nederland Zon | 33 392 |
| Third parties | |
| Name | Funding in € |
| Universitair Ziekenhuis Antwerpen | 3 866 |
| Total Cost | 6 799 100 |
Herman Goossens
Universiteit Antwerpen