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Condition (MeSH)

Joint Diseases

ClinicalTrials.gov lists 14,130 trials for Joint Diseases or a narrower condition beneath it. Pfizer has the most among industry and government lead sponsors, with 212.

MeSH D007592 Musculoskeletal Diseases C05
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Phase 1 Phase 1 764 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 246 Phase 2 Phase 2 1,200 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 180 Phase 3 Phase 3 1,228 Phase 4 Phase 4 1,100 Not applicable Not applicable 5,972 Observational Observational 3,423 Phase 1 Phase 1 764 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 246 Phase 2 Phase 2 1,200 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 180 Phase 3 Phase 3 1,228 Phase 4 Phase 4 1,100 Not applicable Not applicable 5,972 Observational Observational 3,423

Trials per phase (log scale)

2 more sections with rows

384 of the 14,130 trials are tagged with Joint Diseases itself; the rest are tagged with a narrower condition beneath it.

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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 Joint Diseases 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. 27 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: 907

1991: 5 trials (Observational 3, Phase 2 2) 1992: 3 trials (Observational 2, Phase 2 1) 1993: 7 trials (Observational 4, Not applicable 1, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 1) 1994: 8 trials (Observational 5, 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: 24 trials (Observational 4, Not applicable 7, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 3, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 5, Phase 1 2) 1998: 27 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 4, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 4, Phase 2 2) 1999: 33 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 6, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 6, Phase 2 10) 2000: 50 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 8, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 17, Phase 2 9, Phase 1 2) 2001: 70 trials (Observational 16, Not applicable 21, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 10, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 10, Phase 1 3) 2002: 105 trials (Observational 25, Not applicable 16, Phase 4 12, Phase 3 25, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 19, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 4) 2003: 154 trials (Observational 28, Not applicable 33, Phase 4 22, Phase 3 43, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 17, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 4) 2004: 221 trials (Observational 41, Not applicable 48, Phase 4 35, Phase 3 41, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 37, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 8) 2005: 213 trials (Observational 39, Not applicable 39, Phase 4 30, Phase 3 43, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 38, Phase 1/2 6, Phase 1 15) 2006: 276 trials (Observational 53, Not applicable 58, Phase 4 39, Phase 3 55, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 41, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 17) 2007: 301 trials (Observational 58, Not applicable 60, Phase 4 46, Phase 3 56, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 48, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 22) 2008: 349 trials (Observational 69, Not applicable 89, Phase 4 48, Phase 3 49, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 46, Phase 1/2 7, Phase 1 33) 2009: 404 trials (Other 2, Observational 111, Not applicable 91, Phase 4 39, Phase 3 72, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 52, Phase 1/2 12, Phase 1 20) 2010: 432 trials (Observational 103, Not applicable 109, Phase 4 52, Phase 3 60, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 62, Phase 1/2 6, Phase 1 33) 2011: 489 trials (Observational 124, Not applicable 126, Phase 4 57, Phase 3 58, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 66, Phase 1/2 11, Phase 1 40) 2012: 516 trials (Observational 146, Not applicable 149, Phase 4 47, Phase 3 62, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 60, Phase 1/2 9, Phase 1 35) 2013: 494 trials (Observational 123, Not applicable 168, Phase 4 61, Phase 3 50, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 44, Phase 1/2 15, Phase 1 25) 2014: 581 trials (Observational 134, Not applicable 239, Phase 4 39, Phase 3 63, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 52, Phase 1/2 12, Phase 1 38) 2015: 607 trials (Other 2, Observational 151, Not applicable 240, Phase 4 51, Phase 3 59, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 46, Phase 1/2 11, Phase 1 42) 2016: 687 trials (Other 1, Observational 159, Not applicable 284, Phase 4 70, Phase 3 53, Phase 2/3 10, Phase 2 62, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 38) 2017: 617 trials (Observational 146, Not applicable 278, Phase 4 37, Phase 3 51, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 50, Phase 1/2 11, Phase 1 36) 2018: 681 trials (Observational 181, Not applicable 330, Phase 4 41, Phase 3 38, Phase 2/3 9, Phase 2 39, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 35) 2019: 742 trials (Observational 182, Not applicable 376, Phase 4 50, Phase 3 39, Phase 2/3 10, Phase 2 38, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 37) 2020: 684 trials (Observational 206, Not applicable 332, Phase 4 35, Phase 3 29, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 42, Phase 1/2 7, Phase 1 25) 2021: 888 trials (Observational 238, Not applicable 435, Phase 4 38, Phase 3 53, Phase 2/3 9, Phase 2 57, Phase 1/2 16, Phase 1 42) 2022: 851 trials (Observational 220, Not applicable 475, Phase 4 29, Phase 3 29, Phase 2/3 10, Phase 2 48, Phase 1/2 16, Phase 1 24) 2023: 898 trials (Observational 220, Not applicable 489, Phase 4 40, Phase 3 46, Phase 2/3 10, Phase 2 40, Phase 1/2 15, Phase 1 38) 2024: 867 trials (Observational 202, Not applicable 489, Phase 4 50, Phase 3 33, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 35, Phase 1/2 13, Phase 1 39) 2025: 907 trials (Observational 207, Not applicable 494, Phase 4 48, Phase 3 32, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 50, Phase 1/2 14, Phase 1 55)

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) 808
2025 907
2024 867
2023 898
2022 851
2021 888
2020 684
2019 742
2018 681
2017 617

Forecast of the full-year count, planned starts included, not rows of this table: about 1,000 trials starting in 2026 and about 910 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 35 months from start to primary completion across 1,090 trials still running at the 2026-10-09 snapshot; registered median of 18 months across 8,948 trials with a primary completion typed Actual. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov / AACT (CTTI), public domain.

What phase are Joint Diseases trials in? (10)

Shown in this order: phase order.

Show the trials by phase as a table
Trials by phase
Phase Trials
Phase 1 764
Phase 1/2 246
Phase 2 1,200
Phase 2/3 180
Phase 3 1,228
Phase 4 1,100
Not applicable 5,972
Observational 3,423
Expanded access 14
Unknown 3

How many Joint Diseases trials are recruiting? (13)

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 688
Recruiting 1,313
Enrolling by invitation 122
Active, not recruiting 516
Available 2

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

Which lead sponsors run the most Joint Diseases trials? (8)

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 212
Hoffmann-La Roche 202
Zimmer Biomet 150
Novartis Pharmaceuticals 117
Bristol-Myers Squibb 105

Which drugs are being tested for Joint Diseases? (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) 324
Adalimumab-US 196
1=Etanercept 176
tocilizumab SC 130
Exercise 123

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 Joint Diseases 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 3,520 438
Osteoarthritis 2,818 311
Invasive cancer of any type 1,617 1
Rheumatoid arthritis 1,369 205
Myocardial infarction 1,309 239

Which publications cover Joint Diseases? (592)

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

Sub-conditions in MeSH (24)

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

+14 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