The Clinical Trials Pulse

Week of Jul 20–26, 2026

A deterministic snapshot of the global clinical-trial landscape — every figure reproducible from the ClinicaLister knowledge graph.

All editions

This week at a glance

1,087
New trials registered
-10.0% vs prior week
360
Trials completed
40
Terminated / withdrawn / suspended
451
Completion-date slips
8
New FDA approvals
50 month-to-date
1
New EMA authorisations
13
New drug shortages
106 active
2,320
Publications added

New trials by phase

Registered in the past 7 days.

  • NA846
  • PHASE2102
  • PHASE173
  • PHASE352
  • PHASE434
  • EARLY_PHASE19

New trials by sponsor type

  • OTHER896
  • INDUSTRY146
  • OTHER_GOV23
  • FED9
  • NETWORK5
  • NIH5
  • UNKNOWN3

Status changes this week

Trials that moved to a new overall status.

  • COMPLETED360
  • RECRUITING277
  • ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING185
  • TERMINATED33
  • WITHDRAWN19
  • ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION15
  • SUSPENDED11
  • NOT_YET_RECRUITING8
  • AVAILABLE3
  • NO_LONGER_AVAILABLE2

Why trials stopped

Terminations, withdrawals and suspensions — with the sponsor's stated reason.

  • NCT02546986 TERMINATED
  • NCT02719392 WITHDRAWN

    Study did not receive funding and was never carried out.

  • NCT03064139 TERMINATED

    Study terminated early due to COVID-19. Interim data analyses in progress.

  • NCT03065387 TERMINATED

    \<75% participation

  • NCT03090646 TERMINATED

    Terminated in IRB

  • NCT03647462 WITHDRAWN

    The study was withdrawn prior to initiation. The protocol was submitted for IRB review but was not approved. No participants were enrolled.

  • NCT03647891 WITHDRAWN

    Study was withdrawn prior to enrollment following non-approval by IRB.

  • NCT03661307 SUSPENDED

    PI Request

  • NCT03833401 WITHDRAWN

    Lack of enrollment

  • NCT03835273 TERMINATED

    Study closed before the planned recruitment target was reached because the study period ended before full recruitment could be completed. Recruitment ceased at study closure and data collection was completed for enrolled participants.

  • NCT03941366 TERMINATED

    Lack of financial support

  • NCT04027725 WITHDRAWN

    Documents have been pending from the coordinator since July 16, 2019. No response despite multiple follow-ups.

New FDA approvals

50 approvals month-to-date.

SponsorDrugApproved
AUROBINDO PHARMA LTDADAPALENE; BENZOYL PEROXIDE2026-07-22
TEVA PHARMS USACANAGLIFLOZIN2026-07-21
AUROBINDO PHARMA LTDBUPROPION HYDROCHLORIDE2026-07-21
TEVA PHARMS INCTOLVAPTAN2026-07-21
ZYDUS PHARMSFLUVOXAMINE MALEATE2026-07-21
NOVITIUM PHARMAPITOLISANT HYDROCHLORIDE2026-07-21
AFT PHARMACEUTICALS LTDSIROLIMUS2026-07-20
MSNCARFILZOMIB2026-07-20

New EMA authorisations

7.7% of the last year's EMA authorisations were conditional.

MedicineAuthorised
Etcamah2026-07-20

Drug shortage watch

13 new · 0 resolved · 106 currently active.

Newly reported shortagePosted
Lopinavir and Ritonavir Oral Solution2026-07-24
Lopinavir and Ritonavir Tablet2026-07-24
Ritonavir Oral Powder2026-07-24
Ritonavir Tablet2026-07-24
Aspirin Suppository2026-07-23
Belladonna and Opium Suppository2026-07-23
Bendamustine Hydrochloride Injection, Solution2026-07-23
Hydrocortisone Acetate Suppository2026-07-23
Hydromorphone Hydrochloride Suppository2026-07-23
Morphine Sulfate Suppository2026-07-23
Podophyllum Resin Topical Tincture2026-07-23
Succinylcholine Chloride Injection2026-07-23
Dextrose Monohydrate 5% Injection2026-07-20

Hottest conditions

Most new trials this week.

  • anxiety disorder26
  • cerebrovascular disorder16
  • depressive disorder14
  • cancer12
  • type 2 diabetes mellitus12
  • breast cancer12
  • atrial fibrillation12
  • obesity disorder10
  • chronic pain syndrome10
  • cognitive disorder10

Most active sponsors

Industry sponsors, new trials · trailing 28 days.

  • AstraZeneca13
  • Novartis Pharmaceuticals13
  • GlaxoSmithKline10
  • Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC8
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb7
  • Novo Nordisk A/S7
  • AbbVie6
  • Sanofi6
  • Suzhou Suncadia Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.6
  • LucasBio5

Molecules on the move

New links where the molecule is the studied intervention.

  • paclitaxel70
  • bevacizumab15
  • carboplatin14
  • fentanyl10
  • mal10
  • oblimersen10
  • prednisolone9
  • carboxyamidotriazole9
  • epoetin9
  • salmeterol9

Device corner

FDA device clearance data is current; MAUDE adverse-event and recall feeds lag ~1-2 months.

0
New device clearances
111
Device recalls logged

The graph, in reference

Whole-corpus totals and rankings, recomputed every week.

New trial registrations — trailing 12 months

Monthly new registrations across ClinicalTrials.gov. Puts the weekly count in context.

5,1092,5550
25-0725-0925-1126-0126-0326-0526-06
595,677
US trials
11,397
EU trials
9,202
Molecules
35,996
Diseases (MONDO)
29,733
FDA drugs
2,730
EMA medicines
177,325
FDA devices
1,931,406
Verified drug–trial links
1,133,272
Publications

Trials by phase

  • NA60%
  • PHASE214%
  • PHASE111%
  • PHASE38%
  • PHASE46%
  • EARLY_PHASE11%

Trials by sponsor type

  • OTHER71%
  • INDUSTRY22%
  • OTHER_GOV3%
  • NIH2%
  • NETWORK1%
  • FED1%
  • UNKNOWN0%
  • INDIV0%
  • AMBIG0%

Trials by study type

  • INTERVENTIONAL76%
  • OBSERVATIONAL23%
  • EXPANDED_ACCESS0%
  • UNKNOWN0%

Trials by recruitment status

  • COMPLETED55%
  • UNKNOWN13%
  • RECRUITING12%
  • TERMINATED6%
  • NOT_YET_RECRUITING6%
  • ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING4%
  • WITHDRAWN3%
  • ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION1%
  • SUSPENDED0%
  • WITHHELD0%

Top therapeutic areas

By linked trials (MONDO rollup).

  • cancer or benign tumor120,339
  • nervous system disorder116,609
  • hereditary disease80,710
  • digestive system disorder73,044
  • cardiovascular disorder70,290
  • endocrine system disorder55,086
  • psychiatric disorder53,679
  • musculoskeletal system disorder51,982
  • immune system disorder50,258
  • inflammatory disease48,568
  • infectious disease46,737
  • respiratory system disorder46,733
  • reproductive system disorder39,025
  • metabolic disease34,702
  • hematologic disorder33,071

Trials by country of site

Among the 67,934 trials with a mapped site location — not the whole corpus.

  • United States28,425
  • China7,337
  • France6,700
  • Canada4,703
  • Spain4,214
  • United Kingdom4,144
  • Germany4,026
  • Turkey (Türkiye)4,021
  • Italy3,944
  • South Korea2,626
  • Australia2,445
  • Belgium2,237
  • Poland2,186
  • Netherlands2,144
  • Taiwan2,007

Top sponsors

SponsorTrials
Cairo University4,754
Assiut University4,714
GlaxoSmithKline3,620
National Cancer Institute (NCI)3,551
Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris3,523
AstraZeneca3,464
Pfizer3,287
Mayo Clinic3,221
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center3,012
Novartis Pharmaceuticals2,676
National Taiwan University Hospital2,580
Massachusetts General Hospital2,551
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)2,436
Boehringer Ingelheim2,282
University of California, San Francisco2,145
Stanford University2,138
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC2,135
Riphah International University2,112
Hoffmann-La Roche2,079
Eli Lilly and Company2,070
Duke University2,044
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center1,941
Seoul National University Hospital1,881
Ain Shams University1,858
Hospices Civils de Lyon1,833

Most-studied conditions

ConditionTrials
breast cancer11,774
obesity disorder9,520
type 2 diabetes mellitus9,120
chronic pain syndrome8,786
cancer8,215
HIV infectious disease8,196
COVID-197,640
non-small cell lung carcinoma6,358
diabetes mellitus6,117
hypertensive disorder6,114
colorectal cancer5,998
cerebrovascular disorder5,988
coronary artery disorder5,929
prostate cancer5,831
depressive disorder5,821
cardiovascular disorder5,592
heart failure4,885
anxiety disorder4,874
injury4,473
Parkinson disease4,424
asthma4,199
cognitive disorder4,159
lung cancer4,056
benign essential hypertension3,869
neuralgia3,823

Most-studied molecules

MoleculeTrials
carboplatin7,140
paclitaxel5,476
isoniazid5,310
prednisolone5,233
cyclophosphamide5,105
ropivacaine4,831
dexamethasone4,778
bevacizumab4,576
cisplatin4,451
lidocaine3,588
aspirin3,350
gemcitabine3,170
bupivacaine3,098
desoxycorticosterone acetate2,982
pembrolizumab2,969
metformin2,955
sitagliptin and metformin hydrochloride2,955
rituximab2,924
meprednisone2,850
dapagliflozin metformin hydrochloride2,788
sitagliptin metformin hydrochloride2,765
docetaxel2,755
linagliptin and metformin hydrochloride2,752
fluorouracil2,698
alogliptin and metformin hydrochloride2,694

The pipeline & the cliff

Standing competitive & regulatory landscape — who is developing what, at which stage, and which drugs are about to lose exclusivity.

Pipeline competitive matrix

Active trials by the most prolific industry sponsors, split by phase.

Phase 1Phase 2Phase 3
GlaxoSmithKline
1,091
861
890
AstraZeneca
1,018
551
801
Pfizer
1,173
709
652
Novartis Pharmaceuticals
508
834
734
Boehringer Ingelheim
1,065
322
399
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
697
550
738
Hoffmann-La Roche
491
480
568
Eli Lilly and Company
825
535
548

Patent cliff — loss of exclusivity

FDA drugs whose exclusivity expires soon (distinct substances).

49
< 6 months
36
6–12 months
102
12–24 months
Drug (losing exclusivity < 6mo)Expires
Alogliptin Benzoate; Metformin Hydrochloride2026-07-27
Alogliptin Benzoate2026-07-27
Octreotide Acetate2026-08-02
Pexidartinib Hydrochloride2026-08-02
Fedratinib Hydrochloride2026-08-16
Valbenazine Tosylate2026-08-18
Gallium Ga-68 Edotreotide2026-08-21
Cobicistat2026-08-22
Difelikefalin Acetate2026-08-23
Sofosbuvir2026-08-28
Ledipasvir; Sofosbuvir2026-08-28
Citalopram Hydrobromide2026-09-16
Phentolamine Mesylate2026-09-25
Atogepant2026-09-28
Miglustat2026-09-28

Regulatory designations

FDA drugs carrying each designation.

16,467
Orphan drug
838
Fast track
29
Breakthrough
74
Pediatric exclusivity

Most-tested comparators

Molecules most often used as the comparator arm (the standard to beat).

  • alogliptin and metformin hydrochloride1,967
  • sitagliptin and metformin hydrochloride1,960
  • sitagliptin metformin hydrochloride1,231
  • metformin954
  • ropivacaine874
  • dapagliflozin metformin hydrochloride831
  • dexamethasone763
  • lidocaine760

Methodology & sources

Every figure is a deterministic SQL aggregate over the ClinicaLister knowledge graph as of the report date. No figure is AI-generated or estimated; each is reproducible and traceable to its public source.

Sources: ClinicalTrials.gov · EU CTIS · openFDA (drugs, devices, shortages) · EMA · MONDO disease ontology · GSRS · GUDID · Europe PMC / PubMed

Every figure above is a deterministic aggregate over the ClinicaLister knowledge graph — and one click deep in the product, with a source behind each claim.

Machine-readable: download this edition as JSON above, or query the full archive programmatically via the public get_public_report_snapshots endpoint.