GLP-1 Clinical Development Registry: Sponsors, Study Status, Phases, and Conditions

ClinicalTrials.gov contains 1,360 records that mention semaglutide, tirzepatide, or GLP-1 in searchable study fields. Novo Nordisk leads 259 records, and Eli Lilly leads 84. Together they account for 25.2 percent of the cohort. Sponsors classified as industry lead 516 records, while organizations classified as other lead 805. A total of 548 records remain recruiting, not yet recruiting, active without recruiting, or enrolling by invitation. Diabetes-related conditions appear on 639 records, while weight-related conditions appear on 488. These categories overlap and depend on explicit text normalization.

1. Cohort and counting rules

The cohort includes records whose searchable titles, interventions, conditions, or organization fields contain semaglutide, tirzepatide, or GLP-1. One registry record is one registered study, not one product, participant, publication, or regulatory program. The search can include a record that mentions the class without administering a cohort drug. It can miss a record that uses only a brand name or another molecule. Sponsor names and condition labels remain self-reported text.

2. Two manufacturers lead one quarter of matched records

Novo Nordisk leads 259 matched records, while Eli Lilly leads 84. Their combined 343 records represent 25.2 percent of the cohort. University Hospital Gentofte leads 29, Brigham and Women’s Hospital leads 27, and Sanofi leads 17. The ranking counts lead-sponsor strings as registered. It does not merge subsidiaries, collaborators, or sponsor name variants.

3. Sponsor class extends beyond industry

The registry classifies 805 lead sponsors as other and 516 as industry. Government, federal, and National Institutes of Health classes together account for 37 records. Network and individual classes account for one record each. The other category includes hospitals, universities, and organizations that the registry does not place in the industry or government classes. It must not be read as one uniform sponsor type.

4. Forty percent of records remain open by status

Completed studies account for 669 records. Recruiting, not-yet-recruiting, active-not-recruiting, and enrolling-by-invitation statuses sum to 548, or 40.3 percent. Another 91 records carry unknown status. Terminated, withdrawn, and suspended records sum to 52. Status describes the registered record at extraction and does not establish publication, results availability, regulatory progress, or present sponsor activity.

5. Phase labels separate interventional designs

Phase 3 is the largest declared phase with 233 records, followed by Phase 2 with 208 and Phase 4 with 201. Phase 1 accounts for 170. Another 261 interventional records state that phase is not applicable, while 219 observational records carry no phase. Those 480 records should not be grouped with missing data without preserving study type.

6. Condition normalization changes the disease ranking

Obesity is the largest exact condition label with 304 records. Type 2 diabetes appears under several labels, including 219 records for “Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2,” 133 for “Type 2 Diabetes,” and 59 for “Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.” Study-level text normalization finds any diabetes-related condition on 639 records and any obesity, overweight, or weight-loss condition on 488. A record can contribute to both categories.

7. Recorded study starts increased after 2021

Matched records with a recorded start year increased from 70 in 2021 to 88 in 2022, 110 in 2023, 156 in 2024, and 220 in 2025. The series counts registered studies by start date rather than approvals or completed programs. The partial 2026 year remains outside the figure. Historical counts can change when sponsors add or update older records.

8. Supported interpretation

The registry supports four conclusions within the cohort definition. Two manufacturers lead one quarter of matched records, while non-industry sponsor classes lead most records. Forty percent of studies remain in four open statuses. Diabetes-related conditions exceed weight-related conditions after explicit normalization, although the groups overlap. The registry describes registered study activity and cannot establish product success, clinical benefit, publication, or regulatory outcome.

9. Limitations

Sponsor names are not normalized to corporate families. Search terms can create false positives and false negatives. Status and completion fields depend on sponsor updates. Study records can describe observational, interventional, and postmarketing work that serve different purposes. Conditions are arrays of free-text labels, and the normalized groups apply prespecified substrings rather than clinical adjudication. Counts describe registry records rather than unique interventions or patients.