The Clinical Trials Pulse

Week of Sep 28 – Oct 04, 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

1,035
New trials registered
-3.6% vs prior week
449
Trials completed
40
Terminated / withdrawn / suspended
503
Completion-date slips
5
New FDA approvals
0 month-to-date
0
New EMA authorisations
1
New drug shortages
101 active
7,019
Publications added

New trials by phase

Registered in the past 7 days.

  • NA810
  • PHASE291
  • PHASE171
  • PHASE445
  • PHASE341
  • EARLY_PHASE12

New trials by sponsor type

  • OTHER835
  • INDUSTRY156
  • OTHER_GOV35
  • NETWORK4
  • FED2
  • UNKNOWN2
  • NIH1

Status changes this week

Trials that moved to a new overall status.

  • COMPLETED449
  • RECRUITING285
  • ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING181
  • TERMINATED48
  • WITHDRAWN25
  • ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION19
  • SUSPENDED11
  • NOT_YET_RECRUITING7
  • APPROVED_FOR_MARKETING2
  • NO_LONGER_AVAILABLE1

Why trials stopped

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

  • NCT00421213 TERMINATED

    Sponsor stopped enrollment at 50 of 70 planned patients because an activity signal had been observed in lymphoma and further enrollment would not add significantly to interpretation of efficacy or safety.

  • NCT00423306 TERMINATED

    Study closed after Stage 1 (15 of 40 planned patients treated) due to lack of treatment response; criteria to proceed to Stage 2 were not met.

  • NCT00555555 TERMINATED

    Due to recruitment challenges during the trial, this study was terminated early by the Sponsor.

  • NCT00607711 WITHDRAWN
  • NCT00718484 TERMINATED

    Sponsor stopped enrollment at 67 of about 100 planned participants after an unplanned interim analysis confirmed the primary PFS endpoint had been reached. Enrolled participants were followed to their PFS endpoint.

  • NCT00726687 TERMINATED

    No dose-limiting toxicity was observed. The sponsor concluded the study after 3 subjects at the higher dose level; the optional 10-subject expansion cohort was not enrolled.

  • NCT01113970 TERMINATED

    Sponsor business decision: enrollment closed after the Phase 1 dose escalation, before an MTD was reached. The Phase 2 portion was not conducted.

  • NCT01168791 TERMINATED

    Primary endpoint (PFS) not met at the final analysis; sponsor decided to stop the study before the planned final overall survival analysis.

  • NCT01422148 WITHDRAWN

    NOT ENOUGH PARTICIPANTS

  • NCT01555710 TERMINATED

    Sponsor closed enrollment in April 2013 following a change in the palifosfamide development plan (business decision), not for safety reasons. Enrolled participants continued treatment and were followed for survival

  • NCT01630967 WITHDRAWN

    Site did not proceed with this study

  • NCT02192736 TERMINATED

    Did not meet recruitment goals

New FDA approvals

0 approvals month-to-date.

SponsorDrugApproved
BIONPHARMA INCUnknown2026-09-29
ZYDUS LIFESCIENCESMUPIROCIN CALCIUM2026-09-29
UPSHER SMITH LABSPREDNISOLONE ACETATE2026-09-28
NEPHRONDEXMEDETOMIDINE HYDROCHLORIDE2026-09-28
RARE THYROID THERAPEUTICS INTERNATIONAL ABTIRATRICO2026-09-28

New EMA authorisations

7.4% of the last year's EMA authorisations were conditional.

None authorised this period.

Drug shortage watch

1 new · 0 resolved · 101 currently active.

Newly reported shortagePosted
Ivermectin Tablet2026-09-29

Hottest conditions

Most new trials this week.

  • obesity disorder22
  • anxiety disorder20
  • coronary artery disorder17
  • cancer14
  • type 2 diabetes mellitus14
  • depressive disorder11
  • chronic pain syndrome11
  • heart failure10
  • stroke disorder9
  • prostate cancer9

Most active sponsors

Industry sponsors, new trials · trailing 28 days.

  • Research Inc20
  • Novartis Pharmaceuticals12
  • Hoffmann-La Roche11
  • Novo Nordisk A/S9
  • Eli Lilly and Company9
  • Pfizer8
  • Boehringer Ingelheim7
  • Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC6
  • Regeneron Pharmaceuticals5
  • BeOne Medicines5

Molecules on the move

New links where the molecule is the studied intervention.

  • cipepofol72
  • lithium cation58
  • atomoxetine26
  • fluciclovine f-1817
  • fish oil; medium chain triglycerides; olive oil; soybean oil15
  • lanreotide11
  • paclitaxel11
  • glutamine10
  • ruxolitinib8
  • human immunoglobulin g7

Device corner

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

0
New device clearances
110
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
25-1025-1226-0226-0426-0626-0826-09
605,659
US trials
11,850
EU trials
9,276
Molecules
36,015
Diseases (MONDO)
29,896
FDA drugs
2,747
EMA medicines
177,996
FDA devices
1,956,645
Verified drug–trial links
1,155,360
Publications

Trials by phase

  • NA61%
  • 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 tumor122,067
  • nervous system disorder116,884
  • hereditary disease81,956
  • digestive system disorder74,730
  • cardiovascular disorder71,374
  • endocrine system disorder56,488
  • psychiatric disorder53,889
  • musculoskeletal system disorder53,399
  • immune system disorder52,781
  • inflammatory disease49,486
  • respiratory system disorder47,498
  • infectious disease47,198
  • reproductive system disorder39,558
  • metabolic disease35,785
  • hematologic disorder33,432

Trials by country of site

Among the 92,496 trials with a mapped site location — not the whole corpus.

  • United States38,440
  • China10,528
  • France8,674
  • Canada6,123
  • Turkey (Türkiye)6,021
  • Spain5,494
  • United Kingdom5,366
  • Germany5,108
  • Italy5,090
  • South Korea3,328
  • Australia3,237
  • Belgium2,878
  • Egypt2,840
  • Poland2,822
  • Netherlands2,775

Top sponsors

SponsorTrials
Assiut University4,981
Cairo University4,874
GlaxoSmithKline3,641
Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris3,564
National Cancer Institute (NCI)3,553
AstraZeneca3,487
Pfizer3,313
Mayo Clinic3,256
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center3,037
Novartis Pharmaceuticals2,709
National Taiwan University Hospital2,605
Massachusetts General Hospital2,574
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)2,441
Boehringer Ingelheim2,297
Riphah International University2,171
University of California, San Francisco2,165
Stanford University2,157
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC2,152
Hoffmann-La Roche2,095
Eli Lilly and Company2,089
Duke University2,057
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center1,954
Ain Shams University1,910
Seoul National University Hospital1,895
Hospices Civils de Lyon1,850

Most-studied conditions

ConditionTrials
breast cancer11,929
obesity disorder9,748
type 2 diabetes mellitus9,236
chronic pain syndrome8,919
cancer8,414
HIV infectious disease8,267
COVID-197,662
non-small cell lung carcinoma6,478
hypertensive disorder6,193
diabetes mellitus6,183
colorectal cancer6,101
cerebrovascular disorder6,089
coronary artery disorder6,016
prostate cancer5,918
depressive disorder5,906
cardiovascular disorder5,663
anxiety disorder5,022
heart failure4,963
injury4,555
Parkinson disease4,499
asthma4,459
cognitive disorder4,249
lung cancer4,102
neuralgia3,911
plasma cell myeloma3,695

Most-studied molecules

MoleculeTrials
carboplatin7,265
paclitaxel5,650
isoniazid5,383
prednisolone5,362
cyclophosphamide5,162
ropivacaine4,978
dexamethasone4,870
bevacizumab4,700
cisplatin4,546
lidocaine3,701
aspirin3,451
gemcitabine3,244
bupivacaine3,221
pembrolizumab3,038
metformin3,023
desoxycorticosterone acetate2,994
sitagliptin and metformin hydrochloride2,979
rituximab2,968
meprednisone2,850
sitagliptin metformin hydrochloride2,791
docetaxel2,789
dapagliflozin metformin hydrochloride2,788
linagliptin and metformin hydrochloride2,778
fluorouracil2,771
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
863
901
AstraZeneca
1,023
552
811
Pfizer
1,178
710
669
Novartis Pharmaceuticals
513
841
739
Boehringer Ingelheim
1,077
322
403
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
704
553
744
Hoffmann-La Roche
495
483
577
Eli Lilly and Company
837
536
551

Patent cliff — loss of exclusivity

FDA drugs whose exclusivity expires soon (distinct substances).

44
< 6 months
44
6–12 months
101
12–24 months
Drug (losing exclusivity < 6mo)Expires
Afamelanotide2026-10-08
Binimetinib2026-10-11
Tenapanor Hydrochloride2026-10-17
Pilocarpine Hydrochloride2026-10-17
Acetaminophen; Ibuprofen Sodium2026-10-17
Treprostinil Diolamine2026-10-18
Edoxaban Tosylate2026-10-18
Adapalene; Benzoyl Peroxide; Clindamycin Phosphate2026-10-20
Ivabradine2026-10-22
Bupivacaine2026-11-09
Fluticasone Furoate; Vilanterol Trifenatate2026-11-13
Enzalutamide2026-11-17
Givosiran Sodium2026-11-20
Dasatinib2026-12-05
Golodirsen2026-12-12

Regulatory designations

FDA drugs carrying each designation.

16,556
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
  • metformin967
  • ropivacaine891
  • prednisolone875
  • lidocaine790
  • dexamethasone783
  • propofol676
  • paclitaxel670

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.