Skip to content
Pharma Observatory a Scientist.com platform

Condition (MeSH)

Liver Diseases

ClinicalTrials.gov lists 13,130 trials for Liver Diseases or a narrower condition beneath it. GlaxoSmithKline has the most among industry and government lead sponsors, with 221.

MeSH D008107 Digestive System Diseases C06
Email me this page as a PDF

Search trials, drugs, companies and investigators, and follow each one to the others. Individual plan, $249/seat/mo. Card required.

Phase 1 Phase 1 1,491 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 536 Phase 2 Phase 2 2,150 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 233 Phase 3 Phase 3 1,191 Phase 4 Phase 4 1,104 Not applicable Not applicable 2,823 Observational Observational 3,565 Phase 1 Phase 1 1,491 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 536 Phase 2 Phase 2 2,150 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 233 Phase 3 Phase 3 1,191 Phase 4 Phase 4 1,104 Not applicable Not applicable 2,823 Observational Observational 3,565

Trials per phase

2 more sections with rows

821 of the 13,130 trials are tagged with Liver Diseases itself; the rest are tagged with a narrower condition beneath it.

Get the Liver Diseases 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 Liver Diseases trials start? (37)

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. 21 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: 759

1990: 2 trials (Observational 1, Phase 1 1) 1991: 1 trials (Observational 1) 1992: 7 trials (Observational 3, Phase 3 1, Phase 2 2, Phase 1 1) 1993: 8 trials (Observational 2, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 3, Phase 2 1, Phase 1/2 1) 1994: 9 trials (Observational 1, Not applicable 1, Phase 3 4, Phase 2 2, Phase 1 1) 1995: 8 trials (Observational 2, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 2, Phase 2 2) 1996: 8 trials (Observational 1, Not applicable 2, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 2, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 1) 1997: 21 trials (Observational 3, Not applicable 1, Phase 3 7, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 3, Phase 1 6) 1998: 31 trials (Observational 6, Not applicable 2, Phase 3 4, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 9, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 7) 1999: 39 trials (Observational 11, Not applicable 4, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 8, Phase 2 9, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 4) 2000: 62 trials (Observational 15, Not applicable 5, Phase 4 5, Phase 3 18, Phase 2 11, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 6) 2001: 76 trials (Observational 17, Not applicable 2, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 11, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 23, Phase 1/2 7, Phase 1 12) 2002: 108 trials (Observational 15, Not applicable 6, Phase 4 18, Phase 3 26, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 29, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 8) 2003: 153 trials (Other 2, Observational 23, Not applicable 15, Phase 4 30, Phase 3 29, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 28, Phase 1/2 14, Phase 1 8) 2004: 194 trials (Observational 46, Not applicable 17, Phase 4 31, Phase 3 34, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 39, Phase 1/2 9, Phase 1 15) 2005: 254 trials (Other 1, Observational 55, Not applicable 35, Phase 4 39, Phase 3 40, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 52, Phase 1/2 12, Phase 1 14) 2006: 296 trials (Observational 50, Not applicable 27, Phase 4 47, Phase 3 64, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 60, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 32) 2007: 358 trials (Other 1, Observational 72, Not applicable 48, Phase 4 60, Phase 3 47, Phase 2/3 13, Phase 2 75, Phase 1/2 11, Phase 1 31) 2008: 365 trials (Observational 78, Not applicable 53, Phase 4 58, Phase 3 47, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 62, Phase 1/2 16, Phase 1 45) 2009: 438 trials (Observational 86, Not applicable 63, Phase 4 44, Phase 3 28, Phase 2/3 9, Phase 2 87, Phase 1/2 27, Phase 1 94) 2010: 425 trials (Observational 107, Not applicable 61, Phase 4 43, Phase 3 46, Phase 2/3 9, Phase 2 84, Phase 1/2 14, Phase 1 61) 2011: 501 trials (Observational 116, Not applicable 73, Phase 4 58, Phase 3 72, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 91, Phase 1/2 21, Phase 1 63) 2012: 503 trials (Observational 130, Not applicable 90, Phase 4 40, Phase 3 72, Phase 2/3 9, Phase 2 79, Phase 1/2 19, Phase 1 64) 2013: 485 trials (Observational 116, Not applicable 92, Phase 4 59, Phase 3 58, Phase 2/3 12, Phase 2 79, Phase 1/2 19, Phase 1 50) 2014: 535 trials (Observational 124, Not applicable 104, Phase 4 54, Phase 3 64, Phase 2/3 14, Phase 2 81, Phase 1/2 24, Phase 1 70) 2015: 625 trials (Observational 162, Not applicable 124, Phase 4 84, Phase 3 67, Phase 2/3 13, Phase 2 92, Phase 1/2 24, Phase 1 59) 2016: 590 trials (Other 1, Observational 151, Not applicable 152, Phase 4 53, Phase 3 68, Phase 2/3 11, Phase 2 81, Phase 1/2 26, Phase 1 47) 2017: 654 trials (Observational 188, Not applicable 169, Phase 4 64, Phase 3 53, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 81, Phase 1/2 26, Phase 1 68) 2018: 656 trials (Other 1, Observational 217, Not applicable 170, Phase 4 51, Phase 3 39, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 80, Phase 1/2 23, Phase 1 67) 2019: 759 trials (Observational 210, Not applicable 206, Phase 4 44, Phase 3 47, Phase 2/3 16, Phase 2 125, Phase 1/2 34, Phase 1 77) 2020: 628 trials (Observational 186, Not applicable 183, Phase 4 33, Phase 3 25, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 99, Phase 1/2 19, Phase 1 79) 2021: 741 trials (Observational 215, Not applicable 184, Phase 4 40, Phase 3 35, Phase 2/3 9, Phase 2 133, Phase 1/2 25, Phase 1 100) 2022: 728 trials (Observational 240, Not applicable 198, Phase 4 32, Phase 3 32, Phase 2/3 13, Phase 2 109, Phase 1/2 31, Phase 1 73) 2023: 758 trials (Observational 235, Not applicable 208, Phase 4 33, Phase 3 33, Phase 2/3 13, Phase 2 114, Phase 1/2 32, Phase 1 90) 2024: 743 trials (Observational 262, Not applicable 199, Phase 4 31, Phase 3 22, Phase 2/3 11, Phase 2 111, Phase 1/2 24, Phase 1 83) 2025: 645 trials (Observational 213, Not applicable 155, Phase 4 21, Phase 3 32, Phase 2/3 13, Phase 2 102, Phase 1/2 26, Phase 1 83)

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) 570
2025 645
2024 743
2023 758
2022 728
2021 741
2020 628
2019 759
2018 656
2017 654

Forecast of the full-year count, planned starts included, not rows of this table: about 720 trials starting in 2026 and about 660 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 1,132 trials still running at the 2026-10-09 snapshot; registered median of 24 months across 7,434 trials with a primary completion typed Actual. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov / AACT (CTTI), public domain.

What phase are Liver 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 1,491
Phase 1/2 536
Phase 2 2,150
Phase 2/3 233
Phase 3 1,191
Phase 4 1,104
Not applicable 2,823
Observational 3,565
Expanded access 35
Unknown 2

How many Liver Diseases 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 613
Recruiting 1,444
Enrolling by invitation 83
Active, not recruiting 472
Available 5

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

Which lead sponsors run the most Liver 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
GlaxoSmithKline 221
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC 213
Gilead Sciences 201
Bristol-Myers Squibb 164
Hoffmann-La Roche 162

Which drugs are being tested for Liver Diseases? (9)

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
PEGinterferon alfa-2a 248
Sorafenib 203
Entecavir 158
TACE 119
Peginterferon Alfa-2B 111

Interventions as named in the registry (6)

Shown in this order: most trials first.

Interventions as named in the registry
Drug Trials
Ribavirine 559
Lenvatinib 1 126
tenofovir disproxil fumarate 126
Sofosbuvir, Sovaldi 114
Bevacizumab 1 111

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 Liver 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 1,351 359
Anaemia 1,077 233
Abdominal pain 899 248
Ascites 886 194
Pyrexia 837 229

Which publications cover Liver Diseases? (1,220)

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

Sub-conditions in MeSH (21)

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

+11 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