The Clinical Trials Pulse

Week of Sep 14–20, 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

974
New trials registered
+17.6% vs prior week
438
Trials completed
40
Terminated / withdrawn / suspended
490
Completion-date slips
1
New FDA approvals
22 month-to-date
0
New EMA authorisations
3
New drug shortages
103 active
463
Publications added

New trials by phase

Registered in the past 7 days.

  • NA750
  • PHASE295
  • PHASE168
  • PHASE345
  • PHASE435
  • EARLY_PHASE110

New trials by sponsor type

  • OTHER808
  • INDUSTRY123
  • OTHER_GOV36
  • NETWORK3
  • UNKNOWN2
  • NIH1
  • INDIV1

Status changes this week

Trials that moved to a new overall status.

  • COMPLETED438
  • RECRUITING320
  • ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING200
  • TERMINATED50
  • WITHDRAWN34
  • ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION21
  • SUSPENDED15
  • NOT_YET_RECRUITING5
  • NO_LONGER_AVAILABLE1
  • TEMPORARILY_NOT_AVAILABLE1
  • APPROVED_FOR_MARKETING1

Why trials stopped

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

  • NCT01947140 TERMINATED

    Lack of funding and recruitment complications caused by COVID-19

  • NCT02354014 SUSPENDED

    As part of the protocol-specified interim pharmacokinetic (PK) evaluation in Study TMC207-C211, PK data demonstrated lower-than-anticipated bedaquiline exposure

  • NCT02651480 TERMINATED
  • NCT02926729 TERMINATED

    Low enrollment

  • NCT03266666 WITHDRAWN

    Organization lost funding

  • NCT03362073 TERMINATED

    The study was terminated early due to the principal investigator's transition to another institution.

  • NCT03634267 TERMINATED

    PI Request

  • NCT04021368 TERMINATED

    RPD2 has been identified

  • NCT04040673 WITHDRAWN

    Covid19 halted study

  • NCT04047693 TERMINATED

    Poor accrual due to increased use of alternative neoadjuvant treatment options.

  • NCT04080492 TERMINATED

    Enrollment goal not met

  • NCT04111172 SUSPENDED

    Protocol is with FDA review, waiting for funding to be released

New FDA approvals

22 approvals month-to-date.

SponsorDrugApproved
ZYDUS PHARMSEPINEPHRINE2026-09-14

New EMA authorisations

7.8% of the last year's EMA authorisations were conditional.

None authorised this period.

Drug shortage watch

3 new · 0 resolved · 103 currently active.

Newly reported shortagePosted
Rivastigmine Film, Extended Release2026-09-18
Melphalan Hydrochloride Injection2026-09-16
Mesalamine Capsule, Extended Release2026-09-16

Hottest conditions

Most new trials this week.

  • obesity disorder23
  • chronic pain syndrome16
  • breast cancer16
  • non-small cell lung carcinoma13
  • cancer12
  • malignant pancreatic neoplasm12
  • exocrine pancreatic carcinoma12
  • anxiety disorder11
  • chronic kidney disease10
  • injury9

Most active sponsors

Industry sponsors, new trials · trailing 28 days.

  • Research Inc20
  • Shanghai Minwei Biotechnology Co., Ltd16
  • Eli Lilly and Company15
  • Novartis Pharmaceuticals12
  • Pfizer11
  • AstraZeneca10
  • GlaxoSmithKline9
  • Novo Nordisk A/S7
  • Hoffmann-La Roche7
  • Sichuan Baili Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.7

Molecules on the move

New links where the molecule is the studied intervention.

  • salicylic acid10
  • metformin8
  • isotonic sodium chloride solution8
  • bupivacaine8
  • bevacizumab7
  • sodium lactate7
  • sodium phosphate6
  • toripalimab6
  • adebrelimab6
  • irinotecan5

Device corner

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

0
New device clearances
157
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
25-0925-1126-0126-0326-0526-0726-08
603,550
US trials
11,746
EU trials
9,227
Molecules
36,015
Diseases (MONDO)
29,853
FDA drugs
2,747
EMA medicines
177,841
FDA devices
1,953,182
Verified drug–trial links
1,147,221
Publications

Trials by phase

  • NA60%
  • PHASE214%
  • PHASE110%
  • PHASE38%
  • PHASE46%
  • EARLY_PHASE11%

Trials by sponsor type

  • OTHER72%
  • INDUSTRY22%
  • OTHER_GOV3%
  • NIH2%
  • NETWORK1%
  • FED1%
  • UNKNOWN0%
  • INDIV0%
  • AMBIG0%

Trials by study type

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

Trials by recruitment status

  • COMPLETED55%
  • UNKNOWN13%
  • RECRUITING13%
  • NOT_YET_RECRUITING6%
  • TERMINATED6%
  • ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING4%
  • WITHDRAWN3%
  • ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION1%
  • SUSPENDED0%
  • WITHHELD0%

Top therapeutic areas

By linked trials (MONDO rollup).

  • cancer or benign tumor121,755
  • nervous system disorder116,510
  • hereditary disease81,729
  • digestive system disorder74,532
  • cardiovascular disorder71,164
  • endocrine system disorder56,347
  • psychiatric disorder53,730
  • musculoskeletal system disorder53,190
  • immune system disorder52,585
  • inflammatory disease49,327
  • respiratory system disorder47,391
  • infectious disease47,116
  • reproductive system disorder39,472
  • metabolic disease35,677
  • hematologic disorder33,381

Trials by country of site

Among the 87,739 trials with a mapped site location — not the whole corpus.

  • United States36,627
  • China9,924
  • France8,302
  • Canada5,817
  • Turkey (Türkiye)5,620
  • Spain5,251
  • United Kingdom5,143
  • Germany4,952
  • Italy4,895
  • South Korea3,212
  • Australia3,104
  • Belgium2,756
  • Poland2,713
  • Egypt2,663
  • Netherlands2,658

Top sponsors

SponsorTrials
Assiut University4,883
Cairo University4,853
GlaxoSmithKline3,637
Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris3,560
National Cancer Institute (NCI)3,553
AstraZeneca3,486
Pfizer3,309
Mayo Clinic3,249
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center3,028
Novartis Pharmaceuticals2,703
National Taiwan University Hospital2,601
Massachusetts General Hospital2,573
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)2,441
Boehringer Ingelheim2,290
University of California, San Francisco2,160
Stanford University2,154
Riphah International University2,153
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC2,147
Hoffmann-La Roche2,089
Eli Lilly and Company2,086
Duke University2,054
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center1,951
Ain Shams University1,900
Seoul National University Hospital1,893
Hospices Civils de Lyon1,845

Most-studied conditions

ConditionTrials
breast cancer11,900
obesity disorder9,699
type 2 diabetes mellitus9,207
chronic pain syndrome8,889
cancer8,377
HIV infectious disease8,256
COVID-197,659
non-small cell lung carcinoma6,458
hypertensive disorder6,174
diabetes mellitus6,169
colorectal cancer6,089
cerebrovascular disorder6,080
coronary artery disorder5,985
prostate cancer5,900
depressive disorder5,887
cardiovascular disorder5,638
anxiety disorder4,990
heart failure4,947
injury4,540
Parkinson disease4,481
asthma4,454
cognitive disorder4,229
lung cancer4,087
neuralgia3,912
benign essential hypertension3,736

Most-studied molecules

MoleculeTrials
carboplatin7,241
paclitaxel5,619
isoniazid5,380
prednisolone5,344
cyclophosphamide5,144
ropivacaine4,941
dexamethasone4,840
bevacizumab4,684
cisplatin4,517
lidocaine3,676
aspirin3,459
gemcitabine3,222
bupivacaine3,192
pembrolizumab3,029
metformin3,014
desoxycorticosterone acetate2,994
sitagliptin and metformin hydrochloride2,979
rituximab2,964
meprednisone2,850
sitagliptin metformin hydrochloride2,791
dapagliflozin metformin hydrochloride2,788
linagliptin and metformin hydrochloride2,778
docetaxel2,776
fluorouracil2,754
alogliptin and metformin hydrochloride2,720

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
1,096
862
900
AstraZeneca
1,023
552
810
Pfizer
1,177
710
666
Novartis Pharmaceuticals
512
840
738
Boehringer Ingelheim
1,073
321
400
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
702
552
742
Hoffmann-La Roche
494
483
572
Eli Lilly and Company
836
536
550

Patent cliff — loss of exclusivity

FDA drugs whose exclusivity expires soon (distinct substances).

47
< 6 months
44
6–12 months
100
12–24 months
Drug (losing exclusivity < 6mo)Expires
Phentolamine Mesylate2026-09-25
Atogepant2026-09-28
Miglustat2026-09-28
Technetium Tc-99m Labeled Carbon2026-09-29
Patiromer Sorbitex Calcium2026-10-02
Dexamethasone2026-10-03
Risdiplam2026-10-03
Afamelanotide2026-10-08
Binimetinib2026-10-11
Acetaminophen; Ibuprofen Sodium2026-10-17
Pilocarpine Hydrochloride2026-10-17
Tenapanor Hydrochloride2026-10-17
Treprostinil Diolamine2026-10-18
Edoxaban Tosylate2026-10-18
Adapalene; Benzoyl Peroxide; Clindamycin Phosphate2026-10-20

Regulatory designations

FDA drugs carrying each designation.

16,534
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 hydrochloride1,971
  • metformin969
  • ropivacaine887
  • prednisolone873
  • lidocaine788
  • dexamethasone775
  • propofol671
  • paclitaxel667

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.