Clinical trials

What share of clinical trials do companies run?

Companies led 19.1% of the clinical trials that started in 2025, down from a high of 39.0% in 2002. Universities, hospitals and nonprofits lead almost all the rest. The 2000 figure is low partly because few trials were registered before 2005, when medical journals began requiring it.

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Source and date

Data as of
Published

The data

Year the trial started % of trials started led by a company
2000 24.3
2001 31.1
2002 39
2003 38
2004 38.2
2005 37
2006 38.4
2007 37.9
2008 36.7
2009 34.1
2010 32
2011 31.2
2012 28.4
2013 26.6
2014 26.1
2015 24.5
2016 22.6
2017 21.6
2018 21.6
2019 20.9
2020 21.6
2021 22.6
2022 21.5
2023 19.5
2024 18.3
2025 19.1