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Condition (MeSH)

Arthritis

ClinicalTrials.gov lists 10,954 trials for Arthritis or a narrower condition beneath it. Pfizer has the most among industry and government lead sponsors, with 210.

MeSH D001168 Musculoskeletal Diseases C05
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Phase 1 Phase 1 708 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 218 Phase 2 Phase 2 1,092 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 150 Phase 3 Phase 3 1,153 Phase 4 Phase 4 981 Not applicable Not applicable 3,960 Observational Observational 2,676 Phase 1 Phase 1 708 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 218 Phase 2 Phase 2 1,092 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 150 Phase 3 Phase 3 1,153 Phase 4 Phase 4 981 Not applicable Not applicable 3,960 Observational Observational 2,676

Trials per phase (log scale)

2 more sections with rows

840 of the 10,954 trials are tagged with Arthritis itself; the rest are tagged with a narrower condition beneath it.

Get the Arthritis report as a PDF

The PDF carries up to 50 rows of each section, where the page shows the first few, with the sources listed. Enter a work email and confirm it from the message we send, and the report follows by email.

When did Arthritis trials start? (36)

Shown in this order: most recent first, 1990 onwards. 2026 is partial: trials registered with a 2026 start date so far, not a full year. 17 trials are registered to start in 2027 or later, and not listed here.

Trials over time, by phase

  • Phase 1
  • Phase 1/2
  • Phase 2
  • Phase 2/3
  • Phase 3
  • Phase 4
  • Not applicable
  • Observational
  • Other (Expanded access, Unknown)

Top of scale: 652

1991: 4 trials (Observational 2, Phase 2 2) 1992: 2 trials (Observational 1, Phase 2 1) 1993: 6 trials (Observational 3, Not applicable 1, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 1) 1994: 7 trials (Observational 4, Not applicable 2, Phase 2/3 1) 1995: 12 trials (Observational 4, Not applicable 1, Phase 3 2, Phase 2 5) 1996: 10 trials (Observational 1, Not applicable 1, Phase 3 5, Phase 2 3) 1997: 20 trials (Observational 2, Not applicable 6, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 3, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 5, Phase 1 2) 1998: 23 trials (Observational 7, Not applicable 2, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 3, Phase 2 2) 1999: 27 trials (Observational 7, Not applicable 5, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 5, Phase 2 7) 2000: 48 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 6, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 17, Phase 2 9, Phase 1 2) 2001: 65 trials (Observational 16, Not applicable 17, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 10, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 10, Phase 1 2) 2002: 99 trials (Observational 21, Not applicable 15, Phase 4 12, Phase 3 25, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 18, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 4) 2003: 141 trials (Observational 27, Not applicable 26, Phase 4 22, Phase 3 42, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 16, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 3) 2004: 205 trials (Observational 40, Not applicable 41, Phase 4 35, Phase 3 38, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 35, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 6) 2005: 190 trials (Observational 33, Not applicable 27, Phase 4 30, Phase 3 41, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 38, Phase 1/2 6, Phase 1 13) 2006: 245 trials (Observational 46, Not applicable 51, Phase 4 38, Phase 3 46, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 37, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 16) 2007: 271 trials (Observational 54, Not applicable 45, Phase 4 43, Phase 3 55, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 43, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 21) 2008: 294 trials (Observational 59, Not applicable 61, Phase 4 44, Phase 3 44, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 42, Phase 1/2 5, Phase 1 33) 2009: 354 trials (Other 2, Observational 88, Not applicable 72, Phase 4 37, Phase 3 70, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 51, Phase 1/2 11, Phase 1 18) 2010: 378 trials (Observational 91, Not applicable 78, Phase 4 49, Phase 3 57, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 57, Phase 1/2 6, Phase 1 33) 2011: 442 trials (Observational 111, Not applicable 109, Phase 4 56, Phase 3 53, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 59, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 37) 2012: 434 trials (Observational 130, Not applicable 110, Phase 4 41, Phase 3 57, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 52, Phase 1/2 7, Phase 1 31) 2013: 414 trials (Observational 111, Not applicable 123, Phase 4 52, Phase 3 49, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 37, Phase 1/2 14, Phase 1 21) 2014: 475 trials (Observational 110, Not applicable 172, Phase 4 35, Phase 3 62, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 49, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 33) 2015: 489 trials (Other 2, Observational 125, Not applicable 163, Phase 4 46, Phase 3 56, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 43, Phase 1/2 9, Phase 1 40) 2016: 560 trials (Other 1, Observational 134, Not applicable 202, Phase 4 64, Phase 3 53, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 58, Phase 1/2 7, Phase 1 34) 2017: 490 trials (Observational 121, Not applicable 196, Phase 4 30, Phase 3 48, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 46, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 32) 2018: 508 trials (Observational 131, Not applicable 223, Phase 4 36, Phase 3 35, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 36, Phase 1/2 7, Phase 1 33) 2019: 550 trials (Observational 132, Not applicable 261, Phase 4 36, Phase 3 37, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 34, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 35) 2020: 509 trials (Observational 152, Not applicable 230, Phase 4 29, Phase 3 27, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 38, Phase 1/2 7, Phase 1 21) 2021: 652 trials (Observational 180, Not applicable 286, Phase 4 32, Phase 3 46, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 47, Phase 1/2 13, Phase 1 41) 2022: 589 trials (Observational 150, Not applicable 294, Phase 4 26, Phase 3 28, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 45, Phase 1/2 16, Phase 1 22) 2023: 611 trials (Observational 161, Not applicable 289, Phase 4 29, Phase 3 41, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 34, Phase 1/2 13, Phase 1 37) 2024: 586 trials (Observational 145, Not applicable 281, Phase 4 43, Phase 3 30, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 31, Phase 1/2 13, Phase 1 39) 2025: 624 trials (Observational 138, Not applicable 300, Phase 4 43, Phase 3 27, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 47, Phase 1/2 14, Phase 1 49)

Trials registered with a start date in each year, 1990 onward, stacked by phase (complete years only; the current partial year is in the table's notes). The table below lists the same counts, most recent years first.

Trials started per year
Year Trials started
2026 (partial year) 534
2025 624
2024 586
2023 611
2022 589
2021 652
2020 509
2019 550
2018 508
2017 490

Forecast of the full-year count, planned starts included, not rows of this table: about 670 trials starting in 2026 and about 610 in 2027, the average of the 24 months through September, counted as registered and carried forward, with about 0.7 times the starts already registered for the rest of 2026 added. The rows of this table count trials registered so far with a start date in the year, planned starts included; the forecast looks ahead to the count for the whole year, so it is not the same measure. In backtests on conditions of this size, forecasts made part-way through the year were typically off by about 10 percent and ran about 4 percent high against the count later registered; forecasts made before the year began were off by about 25 percent and ran about 15 percent low against the count later registered, and had about 7 percent more error than repeating last year's count. The part-way figures are from forecasts that used a multiple fitted only on earlier years. A stricter check that trains only on older years did not support adding planned starts for conditions of this size: it ran about 6 percent high against the count later registered. These figures rest on a few years of history (target years from 2018 to 2025, varying by figure), place each condition as it is mapped today rather than as it was then, and score against a count for the newest year that was still being revised. Only condition series were scored.

Prediction, not a registry value: median of 36 months from start to primary completion across 815 trials still running at the 2026-10-09 snapshot; registered median of 20 months across 7,042 trials with a primary completion typed Actual. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov / AACT (CTTI), public domain.

What phase are Arthritis trials in? (10)

Shown in this order: phase order.

Show the trials by phase as a table
Trials by phase
Phase Trials
Phase 1 708
Phase 1/2 218
Phase 2 1,092
Phase 2/3 150
Phase 3 1,153
Phase 4 981
Not applicable 3,960
Observational 2,676
Expanded access 13
Unknown 3

How many Arthritis trials are recruiting? (12)

Shown in this order: the order a trial moves through, from not yet recruiting to unknown.

Trials by recruitment status
Status Trials
Not yet recruiting 463
Recruiting 991
Enrolling by invitation 71
Active, not recruiting 406
Available 2

Status as registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. Each trial is counted once.

Which lead sponsors run the most Arthritis trials? (10)

Shown in this order: most trials first. Lead sponsors the registry classes as industry, NIH, US federal, other government or network. A hospital or university the registry files as government can appear here. Sponsors it classes as academic or other are shown on the full page, because that class cannot separate an institution from a named investigator.

Lead sponsors
Sponsor Trials
Pfizer 210
Hoffmann-La Roche 202
Zimmer Biomet 136
Novartis Pharmaceuticals 116
Bristol-Myers Squibb 105

Which drugs are being tested for Arthritis? (3)

Shown in this order: most trials first. One row per drug, matched to a single molecule under all its names, ranked by number of trials.

Drugs tested
Drug Trials
INFLIXIMAB 99
(CP-6890,550) Tofacitinib 83
RITUXIMAB 69

Interventions as named in the registry (12)

Shown in this order: most trials first.

Interventions as named in the registry
Drug Trials
HD- Methotrexate (MTX) 323
Adalimumab-US 195
1=Etanercept 175
tocilizumab SC 130
Abatacept SC 92

These are the names sponsors entered on ClinicalTrials.gov that we have not matched to a single molecule. Some are drugs under a brand or code name; others are procedures, doses or arm labels.

Which serious adverse events do Arthritis trials report? (10)

Shown in this order: most subjects affected first. Subjects affected summed across trials, a cross-trial signal, not a rate.

Serious adverse events in this condition's trials
Adverse event Subjects affected Trials
Pneumonia 3,514 434
Osteoarthritis 2,814 309
Invasive cancer of any type 1,617 1
Rheumatoid arthritis 1,368 204
Myocardial infarction 1,309 239

Which publications cover Arthritis? (586)

Shown in this order: major-topic papers first, then newest, then most linked to trials.

Sub-conditions in MeSH (12)

MeSH descendants one level down with at least one trial, most trials first.

+2 more sub-conditions

Not on this page

Not measured: delivery record.

Checked, with nothing recorded for this condition: prevalence and rare-disease identity.

Browse all condition evidence pages