We’re pleased to share the latest coverage of Hercules. The launch of the project, with our seven industry partners, has received coverage in 10 publications:

Emily Crossley has also written an article for PMLive: Transforming access in rare diseases.



About HERCULES

HERCULES will help produce a comprehensive, standardised evidence base for new treatments that have the potential to change the lives of patients with DMD. Led by Duchenne UK with seven pharmaceutical industry sponsors and two academic partners, the project will enable a stronger evidence base for new therapies for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) required by regulatory bodies, such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). These evidence requirements are very different from the evidence required to grant regulatory approval for a medicine.

Phase One of HERCULES will begin in early 2018, and focus on understanding the current evidence base, the cost of DMD and lives lost to it, as well as current measures of success in DMD clinical trials. This unique project with seven industry sponsors will enable development of the critical components required for a successful HTA submission including:

  • A critique of current Quality of Life metrics and bespoke DMD metric
  • Data analysis to map clinical trial endpoints and natural history data to clinical outcomes
  • A burden of illness study
  • A core economic model which companies can tailor to their own needs

Phase Two will be announced in the second half of 2018.