Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will assess the effect that the creation of a centrally maintained list of priority pathogens would have on encouraging innovation within the field of antibiotic research and development.

Key pathogens are already identified in The UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy 2013 to 2018 and our expert advisory committee regularly reviews the specified combinations of bacteria and associated drug resistance. A copy of the Strategy has been attached.