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Condition (MeSH)

Muscular Diseases

ClinicalTrials.gov lists 6,520 trials for Muscular Diseases or a narrower condition beneath it. Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. has the most among industry and government lead sponsors, with 38.

MeSH D009135 Musculoskeletal Diseases C05 C10
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Phase 1 Phase 1 312 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 153 Phase 2 Phase 2 472 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 106 Phase 3 Phase 3 369 Phase 4 Phase 4 266 Not applicable Not applicable 3,237 Observational Observational 1,589 Phase 1 Phase 1 312 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 153 Phase 2 Phase 2 472 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 106 Phase 3 Phase 3 369 Phase 4 Phase 4 266 Not applicable Not applicable 3,237 Observational Observational 1,589

Trials per phase (log scale)

2 more sections with rows

211 of the 6,520 trials are tagged with Muscular 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 Muscular 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. 15 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 (Unknown)

Top of scale: 555

1990: 1 trials (Phase 2 1) 1992: 3 trials (Observational 2, Phase 3 1) 1993: 2 trials (Observational 2) 1994: 2 trials (Observational 2) 1995: 9 trials (Observational 5, Not applicable 1, Phase 3 1, Phase 2 2) 1996: 6 trials (Observational 3, Phase 2 2, Phase 1 1) 1997: 4 trials (Observational 1, Not applicable 1, Phase 2 2) 1998: 5 trials (Observational 2, Not applicable 1, Phase 3 1, Phase 2/3 1) 1999: 13 trials (Observational 4, Not applicable 2, Phase 4 1, Phase 2 5, Phase 1 1) 2000: 18 trials (Observational 4, Not applicable 2, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 2, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 2, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 5) 2001: 17 trials (Observational 6, Not applicable 6, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 2, Phase 2 1, Phase 1/2 1) 2002: 37 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 5, Phase 4 5, Phase 3 9, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 6, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 2) 2003: 39 trials (Observational 6, Not applicable 13, Phase 4 4, Phase 3 3, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 3, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 3) 2004: 47 trials (Observational 9, Not applicable 9, Phase 4 4, Phase 3 8, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 12, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 1) 2005: 66 trials (Observational 15, Not applicable 13, Phase 4 8, Phase 3 10, Phase 2 12, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 4) 2006: 81 trials (Observational 16, Not applicable 22, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 19, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 11, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 5) 2007: 102 trials (Observational 18, Not applicable 20, Phase 4 11, Phase 3 22, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 14, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 7) 2008: 107 trials (Observational 22, Not applicable 32, Phase 4 13, Phase 3 9, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 15, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 6) 2009: 126 trials (Observational 22, Not applicable 50, Phase 4 13, Phase 3 12, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 9, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 13) 2010: 141 trials (Observational 35, Not applicable 46, Phase 4 18, Phase 3 14, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 18, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 4) 2011: 145 trials (Observational 36, Not applicable 48, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 20, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 22, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 5) 2012: 165 trials (Observational 45, Not applicable 48, Phase 4 10, Phase 3 29, Phase 2 20, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 9) 2013: 207 trials (Observational 44, Not applicable 82, Phase 4 17, Phase 3 18, Phase 2/3 9, Phase 2 15, Phase 1/2 9, Phase 1 13) 2014: 228 trials (Observational 48, Not applicable 105, Phase 4 8, Phase 3 15, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 23, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 14) 2015: 231 trials (Observational 48, Not applicable 105, Phase 4 15, Phase 3 14, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 22, Phase 1/2 14, Phase 1 11) 2016: 245 trials (Observational 51, Not applicable 131, Phase 4 13, Phase 3 8, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 20, Phase 1/2 7, Phase 1 11) 2017: 270 trials (Observational 54, Not applicable 152, Phase 4 7, Phase 3 14, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 24, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 11) 2018: 352 trials (Observational 92, Not applicable 189, Phase 4 7, Phase 3 18, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 20, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 12) 2019: 384 trials (Observational 91, Not applicable 232, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 10, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 19, Phase 1/2 5, Phase 1 12) 2020: 376 trials (Observational 94, Not applicable 208, Phase 4 11, Phase 3 14, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 24, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 18) 2021: 484 trials (Observational 124, Not applicable 266, Phase 4 17, Phase 3 14, Phase 2/3 11, Phase 2 34, Phase 1/2 7, Phase 1 11) 2022: 496 trials (Observational 131, Not applicable 288, Phase 4 14, Phase 3 22, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 20, Phase 1/2 5, Phase 1 11) 2023: 522 trials (Observational 151, Not applicable 279, Phase 4 18, Phase 3 16, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 21, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 22) 2024: 555 trials (Observational 142, Not applicable 311, Phase 4 12, Phase 3 14, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 23, Phase 1/2 14, Phase 1 36) 2025: 522 trials (Other 1, Observational 133, Not applicable 290, Phase 4 4, Phase 3 15, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 24, Phase 1/2 11, Phase 1 41)

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) 462
2025 522
2024 555
2023 522
2022 496
2021 484
2020 376
2019 384
2018 352
2017 270

Forecast of the full-year count, planned starts included, not rows of this table: about 590 trials starting in 2026 and about 550 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 611 trials still running at the 2026-10-09 snapshot; registered median of 15 months across 3,962 trials with a primary completion typed Actual. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov / AACT (CTTI), public domain.

What phase are Muscular Diseases trials in? (10)

Shown in this order: phase order.

Show the trials by phase as a table
Trials by phase
Phase Trials
Phase 1 312
Phase 1/2 153
Phase 2 472
Phase 2/3 106
Phase 3 369
Phase 4 266
Not applicable 3,237
Observational 1,589
Expanded access 15
Unknown 1

How many Muscular 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 327
Recruiting 789
Enrolling by invitation 114
Active, not recruiting 226
Available 4

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

Which lead sponsors run the most Muscular Diseases trials? (3)

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
Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. 38
VA Office of Research and Development 28
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) 27

Which drugs are being tested for Muscular Diseases? (5)

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
Pregabalin 44
Duloxetine 25
Corticosteroid 22
Prednisone 15
Ataluren 13

Interventions as named in the registry (10)

Shown in this order: most trials first.

Interventions as named in the registry
Drug Trials
type A botulinum toxin 89
Exercise 60
[PRP] platelet rich plasma 46
Control (placebo) group 31
Acupuncture 29

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 Muscular 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 188 69
Femur fracture 116 38
Vomiting 66 34
COVID-19 48 23
Nervous system disorder 48 1

Which publications cover Muscular Diseases? (592)

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

Rare-disease identity (2)

Shown in this order: exact, broader, narrower, other.

Rare-disease identity
Orphanet disease ORPHA code Relation Source
Skeletal muscle disease 98472 Exact Orphadata Science knowledge files, Product 1
Skeletal muscle disease 98472 Exact Orphanet Rare Disease Ontology (ORDO)

Sub-conditions in MeSH (27)

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

+17 more sub-conditions

Not on this page

Not measured: delivery record.

Checked, with nothing recorded for this condition: prevalence.

Browse all condition evidence pages