Clinical trial updates

What it is

ClinicalTrials.gov is the US registry of clinical studies. Drug and device makers register their trials there and update the record as each study moves on. We list the studies that companies sponsor, and match the sponsor to a public company when the name lines up. The page opens on Phase 3 studies marked completed, the late-stage trials that come before a request for approval. Change View to see the changes of status we have noticed, or every recent update.

Who files it

The sponsor of the study, in its record on ClinicalTrials.gov. The registry is run by the US National Library of Medicine and does not check what sponsors report.

How current

We check the registry every day. Sponsors update records on their own schedule, from the same week to months later, so a change can appear in the registry well after it happened.

Terms

ClinicalTrials.govClinicalTrials.gov is the US government's registry of clinical studies, run by the National Library of Medicine. Sponsors register a study before it starts and update the record as it goes. The registry does not check what a sponsor reports.Phase 3The late stage of testing, usually with hundreds or thousands of people, to confirm that a treatment works and to find side effects. A study marked Phase 2/3 covers both stages.statusThe registry's own word for where a study stands: not yet recruiting, recruiting, active but not recruiting, completed, terminated (stopped early), withdrawn (never started), suspended, or unknown (the sponsor has not confirmed the record for a long time).completedThe sponsor has marked the study as finished. It says nothing about whether the treatment worked: results, if any, are reported separately and often later.status changesOur history of status changes starts the day we first stored each study, so a change made before that is not shown. The date is when we noticed the change, which can be later than when the sponsor made it.primary completionThe date the last participant is examined for the main question the study asks. The study can run on after it, for follow-up. Sponsors enter the date and revise it, and an estimated date can pass without an update.company matchWe match the sponsor's name to a public company automatically, and by hand for the large drugmakers. A subsidiary or a differently spelled name can be missed, so a study with no ticker does not mean the sponsor is private.

Worth knowing

A completed study is not a result: the registry says the study ended, not whether the treatment worked. Status changes start on the day we first stored each study, so earlier changes are not shown. Dates are the sponsor's own, and an estimated date can pass without an update. We match sponsors to companies automatically, with a hand-checked list for the large drugmakers, so a study with no ticker may still belong to a public company. This is information about studies, not a forecast of what they will show or of a stock's price.

Not to be confused with

FDA approvals and clearances: what the FDA decided, not what a sponsor reports about a study.

All of this comes from ClinicalTrials.gov, the US registry of clinical studies. We are not affiliated with it.