Point-of-Care Diagnostics for Antimicrobial Resistance. Will the Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic Increase the Likelihood of Their Uptake?

Speaker(s)

Moderator: Dalia Dawoud, PhD, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, London, LON, UK
Panelists: Alexander David Morton, PhD, National University of Singapore, Paisley, RFW, UK; Jean-Louis Tissier, MSc, bioMérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France; Fatima Salih, MSc, National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, London, UK

Presentation Documents

ISSUE: The issue to be presented and debated is whether the accelerated uptake of diagnostics seen in the COVID-19 pandemic increases the likelihood of the uptake of other point-of-care (PoC) diagnostics, specifically for guiding appropriate antibiotic prescribing.

OVERVIEW: In 2019, 4.95 million deaths were associated with drug-resistant bacterial infections and 1·27 million deaths worldwide were directly attributed to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) making it a priority area for interventions. One potential approach for tackling AMR being explored by the Innovative Medicines Initiative-funded VALUE-DX project is using PoC diagnostics for community-acquired respiratory tract infections to guide antibiotic prescribing.

During the COVID-19 pandemic PoC diagnostics were introduced in a timely manner that was unprecedented for similar in-vitro diagnostics, due to the perceived urgency for their need by multiple stakeholders and the WHO’s emphasis on testing. Given the pressing need for implementation of effective measures to reduce AMR, will PoC diagnostics for AMR be adopted as widely as they were for COVID-19, if proven to be effective? What factors will affect their uptake, and will they vary by geographical region? What learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic should be considered by different stakeholders? What evidence will HTA bodies need to see and what are the perceived challenges in demonstrating the value of diagnostics for AMR?

Dalia Dawoud will introduce the topic providing an overview of the extent and impact of AMR. Alec Morton will present key considerations when assessing the value of interventions for AMR, with a focus on diagnostics. Jean-Louis Tissier will provide the industry perspective regarding the barriers to uptake of PoC diagnostics and demonstrating their value. Fatima Salih will present key themes from meetings with an expert advisory panel convened for the IMI VALUE-Dx project. There will be three 10-minute presentations, followed by panel/audience discussion with polling questions administered to seek the audience’s views.

Code

313

Topic

Medical Technologies