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Condition (MeSH)

Neurodegenerative Diseases

ClinicalTrials.gov lists 12,309 trials for Neurodegenerative Diseases or a narrower condition beneath it. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) has the most among industry and government lead sponsors, with 130.

MeSH D019636 Nervous System Diseases C10
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Phase 1 Phase 1 1,321 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 436 Phase 2 Phase 2 1,662 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 221 Phase 3 Phase 3 856 Phase 4 Phase 4 397 Not applicable Not applicable 4,270 Observational Observational 3,085 Phase 1 Phase 1 1,321 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 436 Phase 2 Phase 2 1,662 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 221 Phase 3 Phase 3 856 Phase 4 Phase 4 397 Not applicable Not applicable 4,270 Observational Observational 3,085

Trials per phase

2 more sections with rows

429 of the 12,309 trials are tagged with Neurodegenerative Diseases itself; the rest are tagged with a narrower condition beneath it.

Get the Neurodegenerative 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 Neurodegenerative 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. 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: 874

1990: 2 trials (Observational 2) 1991: 2 trials (Observational 2) 1992: 5 trials (Observational 2, Phase 4 1, Phase 2 2) 1993: 8 trials (Observational 3, Not applicable 2, Phase 4 1, Phase 2 2) 1994: 8 trials (Observational 2, Not applicable 3, Phase 3 2, Phase 2 1) 1995: 15 trials (Observational 6, Not applicable 2, Phase 3 6, Phase 2/3 1) 1996: 9 trials (Observational 5, Not applicable 1, Phase 4 1, Phase 2 2) 1997: 11 trials (Other 1, Observational 5, Phase 3 3, Phase 2 2) 1998: 18 trials (Observational 7, Not applicable 2, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 5, Phase 2 2) 1999: 27 trials (Observational 7, Not applicable 1, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 5, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 10) 2000: 51 trials (Observational 17, Not applicable 7, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 12, Phase 2 10, Phase 1 4) 2001: 63 trials (Observational 20, Not applicable 6, Phase 4 5, Phase 3 15, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 6, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 7) 2002: 73 trials (Observational 22, Not applicable 9, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 14, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 16, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 2) 2003: 109 trials (Observational 31, Not applicable 7, Phase 4 11, Phase 3 26, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 22, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 7) 2004: 146 trials (Observational 36, Not applicable 17, Phase 4 11, Phase 3 24, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 33, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 12) 2005: 157 trials (Other 1, Observational 31, Not applicable 18, Phase 4 15, Phase 3 21, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 49, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 13) 2006: 220 trials (Observational 56, Not applicable 19, Phase 4 24, Phase 3 27, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 55, Phase 1/2 5, Phase 1 26) 2007: 262 trials (Observational 51, Not applicable 33, Phase 4 28, Phase 3 42, Phase 2/3 10, Phase 2 49, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 41) 2008: 285 trials (Observational 57, Not applicable 35, Phase 4 20, Phase 3 33, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 64, Phase 1/2 15, Phase 1 54) 2009: 355 trials (Observational 73, Not applicable 55, Phase 4 21, Phase 3 47, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 69, Phase 1/2 14, Phase 1 68) 2010: 312 trials (Observational 73, Not applicable 75, Phase 4 12, Phase 3 32, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 46, Phase 1/2 15, Phase 1 52) 2011: 323 trials (Observational 76, Not applicable 62, Phase 4 18, Phase 3 27, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 75, Phase 1/2 12, Phase 1 47) 2012: 370 trials (Observational 99, Not applicable 92, Phase 4 21, Phase 3 22, Phase 2/3 13, Phase 2 67, Phase 1/2 13, Phase 1 43) 2013: 397 trials (Observational 110, Not applicable 127, Phase 4 15, Phase 3 35, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 44, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 48) 2014: 430 trials (Observational 91, Not applicable 155, Phase 4 14, Phase 3 33, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 53, Phase 1/2 12, Phase 1 66) 2015: 493 trials (Observational 115, Not applicable 174, Phase 4 7, Phase 3 30, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 77, Phase 1/2 14, Phase 1 68) 2016: 527 trials (Observational 120, Not applicable 196, Phase 4 18, Phase 3 29, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 85, Phase 1/2 13, Phase 1 59) 2017: 529 trials (Observational 133, Not applicable 198, Phase 4 15, Phase 3 21, Phase 2/3 10, Phase 2 77, Phase 1/2 22, Phase 1 53) 2018: 618 trials (Observational 138, Not applicable 243, Phase 4 16, Phase 3 38, Phase 2/3 7, Phase 2 94, Phase 1/2 21, Phase 1 61) 2019: 726 trials (Observational 184, Not applicable 308, Phase 4 15, Phase 3 37, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 84, Phase 1/2 18, Phase 1 72) 2020: 642 trials (Observational 176, Not applicable 255, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 29, Phase 2/3 18, Phase 2 74, Phase 1/2 21, Phase 1 63) 2021: 864 trials (Other 1, Observational 249, Not applicable 356, Phase 4 15, Phase 3 46, Phase 2/3 13, Phase 2 90, Phase 1/2 29, Phase 1 65) 2022: 802 trials (Observational 228, Not applicable 339, Phase 4 14, Phase 3 36, Phase 2/3 11, Phase 2 73, Phase 1/2 30, Phase 1 71) 2023: 777 trials (Observational 222, Not applicable 350, Phase 4 17, Phase 3 22, Phase 2/3 9, Phase 2 65, Phase 1/2 28, Phase 1 64) 2024: 874 trials (Observational 224, Not applicable 397, Phase 4 14, Phase 3 31, Phase 2/3 13, Phase 2 83, Phase 1/2 33, Phase 1 79) 2025: 863 trials (Observational 216, Not applicable 380, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 41, Phase 2/3 12, Phase 2 87, Phase 1/2 30, Phase 1 88)

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) 792
2025 863
2024 874
2023 777
2022 802
2021 864
2020 642
2019 726
2018 618
2017 529

Forecast of the full-year count, planned starts included, not rows of this table: about 980 trials starting in 2026 and about 880 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 1,339 trials still running at the 2026-10-09 snapshot; registered median of 24 months across 6,999 trials with a primary completion typed Actual. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov / AACT (CTTI), public domain.

What phase are Neurodegenerative 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 1,321
Phase 1/2 436
Phase 2 1,662
Phase 2/3 221
Phase 3 856
Phase 4 397
Not applicable 4,270
Observational 3,085
Expanded access 60
Unknown 1

How many Neurodegenerative 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 576
Recruiting 1,886
Enrolling by invitation 192
Active, not recruiting 545
Available 14

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

Which lead sponsors run the most Neurodegenerative Diseases trials? (6)

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
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) 130
Pfizer 93
Novartis Pharmaceuticals 82
Biogen 69
Eli Lilly and Company 66

Which drugs are being tested for Neurodegenerative Diseases? (4)

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
Levodopa 50
BIA 9-1067 40
Riluzole 32
KW-6500 32

Interventions as named in the registry (11)

Shown in this order: most trials first.

Interventions as named in the registry
Drug Trials
Donepezil HCI (drug) 133
memantine ER 57
Group R Rasagiline 55
Exercise 48
MRI 43

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 Neurodegenerative 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 1,787 369
Positive for PDM and had PCC visit 1,775 1
Fall 1,339 272
Hospitalizations 1,067 3
Syncope 941 245

Which publications cover Neurodegenerative Diseases? (660)

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

Sub-conditions in MeSH (10)

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

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