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Condition (MeSH)

Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive

ClinicalTrials.gov lists 5,375 trials for Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive or a narrower condition beneath it. GlaxoSmithKline has the most among industry and government lead sponsors, with 275.

MeSH D029424 Respiratory Tract Diseases C08 C23
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Phase 1 Phase 1 323 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 64 Phase 2 Phase 2 451 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 41 Phase 3 Phase 3 514 Phase 4 Phase 4 438 Not applicable Not applicable 2,038 Observational Observational 1,503 Phase 1 Phase 1 323 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 64 Phase 2 Phase 2 451 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 41 Phase 3 Phase 3 514 Phase 4 Phase 4 438 Not applicable Not applicable 2,038 Observational Observational 1,503

Trials per phase (log scale)

1 more section with rows

5,310 of the 5,375 trials are tagged with Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive 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 Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive 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. 9 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: 296

1990: 3 trials (Observational 2, Phase 2 1) 1992: 1 trials (Observational 1) 1993: 4 trials (Observational 2, Phase 3 2) 1994: 1 trials (Observational 1) 1995: 1 trials (Observational 1) 1996: 1 trials (Phase 3 1) 1997: 3 trials (Observational 1, Phase 2 1, Phase 1 1) 1998: 13 trials (Observational 2, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 5, Phase 2 4) 1999: 17 trials (Observational 9, Not applicable 1, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 4, Phase 2 2) 2000: 26 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 2, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 10, Phase 2 4) 2001: 32 trials (Observational 10, Not applicable 5, Phase 4 4, Phase 3 7, Phase 2 6) 2002: 53 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 8, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 28, Phase 2 3) 2003: 48 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 11, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 15, Phase 2 6, Phase 1/2 2) 2004: 81 trials (Observational 19, Not applicable 16, Phase 4 17, Phase 3 7, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 12, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 4) 2005: 108 trials (Observational 32, Not applicable 25, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 15, Phase 2 19, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 6) 2006: 130 trials (Observational 33, Not applicable 19, Phase 4 24, Phase 3 23, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 21, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 5) 2007: 153 trials (Observational 36, Not applicable 30, Phase 4 21, Phase 3 17, Phase 2/3 4, Phase 2 22, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 19) 2008: 178 trials (Observational 32, Not applicable 41, Phase 4 20, Phase 3 20, Phase 2 39, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 24) 2009: 223 trials (Observational 48, Not applicable 67, Phase 4 20, Phase 3 36, Phase 2/3 6, Phase 2 20, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 22) 2010: 209 trials (Observational 56, Not applicable 51, Phase 4 16, Phase 3 27, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 31, Phase 1/2 5, Phase 1 21) 2011: 250 trials (Observational 60, Not applicable 77, Phase 4 24, Phase 3 42, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 25, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 17) 2012: 240 trials (Observational 57, Not applicable 70, Phase 4 34, Phase 3 38, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 21, Phase 1 17) 2013: 229 trials (Observational 48, Not applicable 87, Phase 4 22, Phase 3 31, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 16, Phase 1/2 5, Phase 1 19) 2014: 266 trials (Observational 65, Not applicable 97, Phase 4 30, Phase 3 31, Phase 2/3 3, Phase 2 17, Phase 1/2 5, Phase 1 18) 2015: 230 trials (Observational 57, Not applicable 81, Phase 4 29, Phase 3 21, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 23, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 16) 2016: 277 trials (Observational 75, Not applicable 126, Phase 4 24, Phase 3 19, Phase 2 11, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 20) 2017: 296 trials (Observational 96, Not applicable 123, Phase 4 27, Phase 3 11, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 19, Phase 1/2 3, Phase 1 16) 2018: 229 trials (Observational 69, Not applicable 101, Phase 4 20, Phase 3 9, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 18, Phase 1/2 4, Phase 1 7) 2019: 272 trials (Other 1, Observational 84, Not applicable 140, Phase 4 11, Phase 3 11, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 14, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 8) 2020: 209 trials (Other 2, Observational 77, Not applicable 94, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 7, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 8, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 8) 2021: 246 trials (Observational 86, Not applicable 108, Phase 4 13, Phase 3 14, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 9, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 13) 2022: 227 trials (Observational 64, Not applicable 122, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 10, Phase 2 11, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 12) 2023: 273 trials (Observational 91, Not applicable 132, Phase 4 9, Phase 3 12, Phase 2 13, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 14) 2024: 288 trials (Observational 94, Not applicable 142, Phase 4 10, Phase 3 8, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 15, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 17) 2025: 282 trials (Observational 99, Not applicable 125, Phase 4 13, Phase 3 12, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 20, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 9)

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) 232
2025 282
2024 288
2023 273
2022 227
2021 246
2020 209
2019 272
2018 229
2017 296

Showing 10 of 36 earlier years.

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Forecast of the full-year count, planned starts included, not rows of this table: about 270 trials starting in 2026 and about 270 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 314 trials still running at the 2026-10-09 snapshot; registered median of 16 months across 3,630 trials with a primary completion typed Actual. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov / AACT (CTTI), public domain.

What phase are Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive trials in? (9)

Shown in this order: phase order.

Show the trials by phase as a table
Trials by phase
Phase Trials
Phase 1 323
Phase 1/2 64
Phase 2 451
Phase 2/3 41
Phase 3 514
Phase 4 438
Not applicable 2,038
Observational 1,503
Unknown 3

How many Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive trials are recruiting? (9)

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 207
Recruiting 419
Enrolling by invitation 34
Active, not recruiting 107
Completed 3,365

Showing 5 of 9 statuses.

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

Which lead sponsors run the most Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive 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 275
AstraZeneca 236
Boehringer Ingelheim 235
Novartis Pharmaceuticals 88
Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. 61

Showing 5 of 8 sponsors.

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Which drugs are being tested for Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive? (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
Formoterol 60
UMEC 39
OPN-375 23

Interventions as named in the registry (12)

Shown in this order: most trials first.

Interventions as named in the registry
Drug Trials
Tiotropium bromide via (Spiriva® Handihaler®) 195
Indacaterol 37.5 46
Salmeterol MDI 46
Olodaterol (BI 1744) low 39
Roflumilast 500 39

Showing 5 of 12 interventions.

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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 Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive 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
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 14,714 285
Pneumonia 6,059 283
Invasive cancer of any type 4,851 1
Major cardiovascular event 2,415 1
Gastrointestinal bleeding 2,234 2

Showing 5 of 10 adverse events.

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Which publications cover Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive? (5,576)

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

Publications
Publication Journal Year Major topic
A Combined Model-Based Meta-Analysis of Aggregated and Individual FEV1 Data From Randomized COPD Trials. CPT: pharmacometrics & systems pharmacology 2026 Yes
Cytisinicline for smoking cessation in individuals with self-reported COPD: a post hoc analysis of the ORCA-2 and ORCA-3 trials. Thorax 2026 Yes
Lung Diffusing Capacity Improves the Prognostic Validity of the GOLD Spirometric Staging in COPD. Archivos de bronconeumologia 2026 Yes
Inspiratory Muscle Training and Aerobic Exercise Affect Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients With Intermittent Claudication: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy 2026 Yes
TETRIS - Prospective study to observe clinical outcomes of triple therapy in COPD patients: Up to 12 months interim analysis. Respiratory medicine 2026 Yes

Showing 5 of 5,576 publications.

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Sub-conditions in MeSH (3)

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