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Condition (MeSH)

Substance-Related Disorders

ClinicalTrials.gov lists 7,412 trials for Substance-Related Disorders or a narrower condition beneath it. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has the most among industry and government lead sponsors, with 331.

MeSH D019966 Chemically-Induced Disorders C25 F03
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Phase 1 Phase 1 736 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 193 Phase 2 Phase 2 1,111 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 154 Phase 3 Phase 3 379 Phase 4 Phase 4 460 Not applicable Not applicable 3,443 Observational Observational 935 Phase 1 Phase 1 736 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 193 Phase 2 Phase 2 1,111 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 154 Phase 3 Phase 3 379 Phase 4 Phase 4 460 Not applicable Not applicable 3,443 Observational Observational 935

Trials per phase (log scale)

1 more section with rows

2,226 of the 7,412 trials are tagged with Substance-Related Disorders itself; the rest are tagged with a narrower condition beneath it.

Get the Substance-Related Disorders 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 Substance-Related Disorders 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. 47 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

Top of scale: 417

1990: 6 trials (Observational 1, Not applicable 1, Phase 3 1, Phase 2 3) 1991: 6 trials (Phase 2 3, Phase 1 3) 1992: 15 trials (Observational 2, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 1, Phase 2 9, Phase 1 2) 1993: 13 trials (Observational 1, Phase 2 10, Phase 1 2) 1994: 26 trials (Not applicable 2, Phase 2 20, Phase 1 4) 1995: 23 trials (Observational 1, Not applicable 3, Phase 4 4, Phase 3 1, Phase 2 14) 1996: 35 trials (Observational 2, Not applicable 5, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 2, Phase 2 13, Phase 1 11) 1997: 38 trials (Observational 3, Not applicable 5, Phase 4 5, Phase 3 1, Phase 2 19, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 3) 1998: 22 trials (Observational 5, Not applicable 1, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 3, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 8, Phase 1 1) 1999: 32 trials (Observational 2, Not applicable 4, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 3, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 10, Phase 1 5) 2000: 31 trials (Observational 4, Not applicable 7, Phase 4 7, Phase 3 5, Phase 2 7, Phase 1/2 1) 2001: 67 trials (Observational 2, Not applicable 13, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 13, Phase 2 20, Phase 1/2 7, Phase 1 6) 2002: 65 trials (Observational 9, Not applicable 10, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 6, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 19, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 7) 2003: 110 trials (Observational 12, Not applicable 24, Phase 4 16, Phase 3 16, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 22, Phase 1/2 5, Phase 1 10) 2004: 156 trials (Observational 12, Not applicable 37, Phase 4 15, Phase 3 16, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 43, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 23) 2005: 178 trials (Observational 27, Not applicable 46, Phase 4 23, Phase 3 14, Phase 2/3 10, Phase 2 43, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 12) 2006: 178 trials (Observational 16, Not applicable 51, Phase 4 15, Phase 3 16, Phase 2/3 11, Phase 2 43, Phase 1/2 9, Phase 1 17) 2007: 196 trials (Observational 22, Not applicable 65, Phase 4 17, Phase 3 21, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 41, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 18) 2008: 225 trials (Observational 26, Not applicable 62, Phase 4 21, Phase 3 18, Phase 2/3 14, Phase 2 40, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 36) 2009: 235 trials (Observational 28, Not applicable 66, Phase 4 18, Phase 3 21, Phase 2/3 9, Phase 2 56, Phase 1/2 10, Phase 1 27) 2010: 247 trials (Observational 36, Not applicable 71, Phase 4 20, Phase 3 20, Phase 2/3 9, Phase 2 49, Phase 1/2 15, Phase 1 27) 2011: 233 trials (Observational 22, Not applicable 86, Phase 4 15, Phase 3 22, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 31, Phase 1/2 12, Phase 1 37) 2012: 255 trials (Observational 39, Not applicable 96, Phase 4 15, Phase 3 11, Phase 2/3 8, Phase 2 45, Phase 1/2 7, Phase 1 34) 2013: 235 trials (Observational 26, Not applicable 96, Phase 4 22, Phase 3 22, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 42, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 19) 2014: 260 trials (Observational 33, Not applicable 122, Phase 4 19, Phase 3 9, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 31, Phase 1/2 13, Phase 1 30) 2015: 290 trials (Observational 52, Not applicable 156, Phase 4 13, Phase 3 19, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 21, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 21) 2016: 283 trials (Observational 44, Not applicable 139, Phase 4 14, Phase 3 10, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 30, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 32) 2017: 322 trials (Observational 36, Not applicable 181, Phase 4 18, Phase 3 15, Phase 2/3 9, Phase 2 25, Phase 1/2 6, Phase 1 32) 2018: 348 trials (Observational 53, Not applicable 182, Phase 4 22, Phase 3 8, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 38, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 35) 2019: 377 trials (Observational 61, Not applicable 213, Phase 4 16, Phase 3 10, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 35, Phase 1/2 11, Phase 1 27) 2020: 353 trials (Observational 60, Not applicable 202, Phase 4 18, Phase 3 8, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 28, Phase 1/2 5, Phase 1 27) 2021: 402 trials (Observational 50, Not applicable 232, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 9, Phase 2/3 10, Phase 2 47, Phase 1/2 9, Phase 1 36) 2022: 395 trials (Observational 46, Not applicable 245, Phase 4 15, Phase 3 4, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 38, Phase 1/2 6, Phase 1 38) 2023: 417 trials (Observational 48, Not applicable 253, Phase 4 16, Phase 3 16, Phase 2/3 5, Phase 2 40, Phase 1/2 6, Phase 1 33) 2024: 413 trials (Observational 50, Not applicable 250, Phase 4 18, Phase 3 9, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 44, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 36) 2025: 388 trials (Observational 53, Not applicable 234, Phase 4 10, Phase 3 12, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 35, Phase 1/2 8, Phase 1 34)

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) 417
2025 388
2024 413
2023 417
2022 395
2021 402
2020 353
2019 377
2018 348
2017 322

Forecast of the full-year count, planned starts included, not rows of this table: about 430 trials starting in 2026 and about 410 in 2027, the average of the 24 months through September, counted as registered and carried forward. 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 13 percent and ran about 12 percent low against the count later registered; forecasts made before the year began were off by about 19 percent and ran about 17 percent low against the count later registered, and had about the same error as repeating last year's count. 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 768 trials still running at the 2026-10-09 snapshot; registered median of 27 months across 4,985 trials with a primary completion typed Actual. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov / AACT (CTTI), public domain.

What phase are Substance-Related Disorders trials in? (9)

Shown in this order: phase order.

Show the trials by phase as a table
Trials by phase
Phase Trials
Phase 1 736
Phase 1/2 193
Phase 2 1,111
Phase 2/3 154
Phase 3 379
Phase 4 460
Not applicable 3,443
Observational 935
Expanded access 1

How many Substance-Related Disorders trials are recruiting? (10)

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 282
Recruiting 815
Enrolling by invitation 69
Active, not recruiting 244
Available 1

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

Which lead sponsors run the most Substance-Related Disorders 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
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) 331
VA Office of Research and Development 139
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) 79

Which drugs are being tested for Substance-Related Disorders? (6)

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
Buprenorphine 144
Nicotine Patch 139
Marijuana 62
Cannabidiol 56
Methadone 51

Interventions as named in the registry (9)

Shown in this order: most trials first.

Interventions as named in the registry
Drug Trials
IM naltrexone 137
Treatment As Usual 127
varenicline free base 111
BupropionXL 71
Buprenorphine and Naloxone 69

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 Substance-Related Disorders 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
Emergency Visits, post-index 5,380 1
Emergency Visits, pre-index 5,169 1
Hospitalizations, post-index 2,533 1
Hospitalizations, pre-index 2,419 1
All-Cause Emergency Department Visits 2,007 1

Which publications cover Substance-Related Disorders? (3,594)

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

Sub-conditions in MeSH (13)

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