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ClinicalTrials.gov 109 recruiting now official registry

Major Depressive Disorder clinical trials

109 of 283 indexed Major Depressive Disorder trials are currently recruiting.

283 US clinical trials · 109 currently recruiting

Major Depressive Disorder is the subject of 283 registered US clinical trials on ClinicalTrials.gov, 109 of them currently open to new participants. 74 are in Phase 3-4 (later-stage) and 81 in Phase 1-2 (earlier-stage). The most active sponsor is Massachusetts General Hospital, running 19 of these trials.

The research picture

Major Depressive Disorder has 283 registered US clinical trials, 109 of them open to new participants right now, about 39% of the total.

109
recruiting participants now
39%
of trials open to enrollment
74
in Phase 3–4 (later-stage)
19
top sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital
Phase 124Phase 257Phase 345Phase 429

Active & Recent Trials

283 total, page 3 of 6

RECRUITING Phase 2 16 participants

Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitor (SGLT2) in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

NYU Langone Health

NCT05757791

RECRUITING NA 16 participants

Neurobehavioral Therapy For Epilepsy And Major Depressive Disorder

The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

NCT06695767

RECRUITING 12 participants

Acceptability and Feasibility of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for Depression in Multiple Sclerosis

University of Utah

NCT06329414

RECRUITING NA 12 participants

DBS for Depression

Baylor College of Medicine

NCT03437928

RECRUITING NA 12 participants

Closed-Loop Deep Brain Stimulation for Major Depression

Andrew Krystal

NCT04004169

RECRUITING NA 10 participants

Invasive Decoding and Stimulation of Altered Reward Computations in Depression Patients

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

NCT05239780

RECRUITING NA 10 participants

Pilot Study of Personalized Aperiodic Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation in Antenatal Depression (PandA-tACS)

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

NCT06979154

RECRUITING NA 10 participants

DBS for TRD With the Medtronic Percept PC

Helen Mayberg, MD

NCT05773755

RECRUITING NA 10 participants

Behavioral and Neuronal Correlates of Human Mood States

Stanford University

NCT06159595

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING NA 3,360 participants

Appalachian Mind Health Initiative

University of South Florida

NCT04120285

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING 1,000 participants

Open Label Optimization Study

Magnus Medical

NCT05819021

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING NA 248 participants

Self-guided Treatment for Depression

Big Health

NCT06028984

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING NA 176 participants

Using mHealth to Improve Adherence and Reduce Blood Pressure in Individuals With Hypertension and Mood Disorders

Case Western Reserve University

NCT04675593

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING NA 175 participants

Fisher Wallace Neurostimulation & Depression Study

ProofPilot

NCT04541563

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING Phase 3 149 participants

A Phase 3 Trial of MM120 for Major Depressive Disorder (Emerge)

Definium Therapeutics US

NCT06941844

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING 132 participants

Unobtrusive Monitoring of Affective Symptoms and Cognition Using Keyboard Dynamics (UnMASCK)

University of Illinois at Chicago

NCT04358900

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING 120 participants

Imaging mGluR5 and Synaptic Density in Psychiatric Disorders

Yale University

NCT03898297

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING Phase 2 102 participants

A Phase II, Multicentre, Randomised, Double-blind, Controlled Study to Investigate the Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, and Efficacy of COMP360 in Participants With Recurrent Major Depressive Disorder

COMPASS Pathways

NCT05733546

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING Phase 2 90 participants

Psilocybin Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder With Co-occurring Alcohol Use Disorder

Johns Hopkins University

NCT04620759

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING Phase 4 75 participants

Predictors of Cognitive Outcomes in Geriatric Depression

David Steffens

NCT05273996

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING NA 62 participants

Impact of Transcutaneous Vagal Nerve Stimulation on Stress Response in Major Depression

Massachusetts General Hospital

NCT04448327

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING Phase 3 60 participants

Opiate Suicide Study in Patients With Major Depression

Stanford University

NCT04116528

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING NA 54 participants

Mechanism of Action of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Massachusetts General Hospital

NCT04278521

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING NA 50 participants

Individualized (fMRI-guided) TMS Treatment for Depression

University of Pennsylvania

NCT06266390

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING Phase 4 42 participants

The Effect of Celecoxib on Neuroinflammation in MDD

Stony Brook University

NCT04814355

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING Phase 2 40 participants

Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression

University of Colorado, Denver

NCT06230757

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING 40 participants

Tracking Brain Biomarkers and Renormalization Associated With Antidepressant Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy

Medical University of South Carolina

NCT06043401

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING NA 37 participants

Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment Resistant Depression

Emory University

NCT00367003

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING Early Phase 1 30 participants

Effects of Intravenous (IV) Citalopram Hydrochloride During Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

University of California, Los Angeles

NCT04846829

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING Phase 1 30 participants

Fixed Order, Open-Label, Dose-Escalation Study of DMT in Humans

Yale University

NCT04711915

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING NA 30 participants

EMA-Guided Maintenance TMS for Depression

Butler Hospital

NCT06145594

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING NA 24 participants

Individualized Targeting and Neuromodulation of Late-Life Depression

University of New Mexi

NCT04543773

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING Phase 4 21 participants

Ketamine-Assisted Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: A Pilot Study

Ohio State University

NCT05950711

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING Phase 1 18 participants

Psilocybin - Induced Neuroplasticity in the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder

Yale University

NCT03554174

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING Early Phase 1 18 participants

Ketamine Associated ACC GABA and Glutamate Change and Depression Remission:

Mayo Clinic

NCT03573349

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING NA 16 participants

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Therapy for Treatment Resistant Depression

The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

NCT02046330

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING Early Phase 1 10 participants

Testing a Transdiagnostic TMS Treatment Target

Brigham and Women's Hospital

NCT06282146

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING NA 10 participants

DBS for TRD With the Medtronic Summit RC+S

Helen Mayberg, MD

NCT04106466

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING NA 8 participants

Transcranial Electric Stimulation Therapy (TEST) for Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD)

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

NCT05172271

COMPLETED Phase 2 1,357 participants

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Sequential Parallel Study of CERC-301 in the Adjunctive Treatment of Subjects With Severe Depression and Recent Active Suicidal Ideation Despite Antidepressant Treatment

Avalo Therapeutics

NCT01941043

COMPLETED Phase 3 1,149 participants

A Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety & Tolerability of Brexpiprazole in the Maintenance Treatment of Adults With Major Depressive Disorder

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization

NCT03538691

COMPLETED Phase 3 1,105 participants

Efficacy and Safety Study of SPD489 in Combination With an Antidepressant in the Treatment of Adults With Major Depressive Disorder

Shire

NCT01436162

COMPLETED Phase 3 877 participants

Escitalopram in Adult Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

Forest Laboratories

NCT00668525

COMPLETED Phase 3 876 participants

Open-Label Safety Study of AXS-05 in Subjects With Depression

Axsome Therapeutics

NCT04039022

COMPLETED Phase 3 828 participants

Safety Study of F2695 SR in Major Depressive Disorder

Forest Laboratories

NCT01034267

COMPLETED Phase 3 812 participants

An Open-label Study of Lumateperone as Adjunctive Therapy in the Treatment of Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

Intra-Cellular Therapies

NCT05061719

COMPLETED Phase 2 773 participants

Study of the Safety and Efficacy of OPC-34712 as Adjunctive Therapy in the Treatment of Adults With Major Depressive Disorder

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization

NCT01052077

COMPLETED Phase 3 752 participants

The Objective of This Study is to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety and Tolerability of Cariprazine as an Adjunctive Treatment to Antidepressant Therapy (ADT) in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) Who Have Had an Inadequate Response to Antidepressants Alone

AbbVie

NCT03739203

COMPLETED Phase 4 742 participants

Optimizing Outcomes of Treatment-Resistant Depression in Older Adults

Washington University School of Medicine

NCT02960763

COMPLETED Phase 3 734 participants

Relapse-Prevention Study With Levomilnacipran ER (F2695 SR) in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

Forest Laboratories

NCT01085812

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Phase Distribution

PhaseTrial count
Phase 1 24
Phase 2 57
Phase 3 45
Phase 4 29

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, National Library of Medicine. Data is informational only.

Reading the Major Depressive Disorder Trial Landscape

283 indexed Major Depressive Disorder studies · 109 recruiting (39%).

Phase mix: 74 late (III/IV) vs 81 early (I/II).

Top sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital (19 trials), 9 others listed. 50 shown below, recruiting first.

How to read this condition's trial landscape

That ratio is a useful proxy for activity level: a high share of recruiting studies often signals that research interest is current and that new enrollment opportunities are appearing, while a low share typically means the field is dominated by completed or follow-up work where most participant spots have already been filled. These counts reflect the public registry only and include studies at every stage of design, so they should be read as an index of research attention rather than as a measure of treatment availability.

Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies focus on early safety signals, dosing, and preliminary effect, while Phase 3 studies are typically the larger efficacy and safety trials submitted toward regulatory review, and Phase 4 studies follow approved interventions in real-world use. A condition weighted toward later phases often reflects a mature research pipeline with several interventions already close to or past approval, whereas a heavier early-phase tilt suggests the field is still exploring new mechanisms and candidate approaches.

All figures are derived from the public ClinicalTrials.gov dataset maintained by the National Library of Medicine and are reproduced here for reference. Inclusion of a trial, sponsor, or intervention on this page is neither an endorsement nor a recommendation, eligibility, protocol changes, and site-level status can shift frequently, so always verify current details on ClinicalTrials.gov and consult a qualified healthcare provider before acting on anything you see here.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many clinical trials are there for Major Depressive Disorder?

PlainTrial tracks 283 US clinical trials for Major Depressive Disorder, of which 109 are currently recruiting participants. Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov.

How do I find a recruiting trial for Major Depressive Disorder?

Use the trial list above filtered by "Recruiting" status, or visit our trial finder at /recruiting to search by condition and state. Always discuss trial participation with your healthcare provider before enrolling.

Is this data current?

Data is sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov and reflects our most recent data pull. Trial status may have changed since then. Always verify current information at ClinicalTrials.gov before making decisions about participation.

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (National Library of Medicine). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (NIH/NLM) ClinicalTrials.gov AACT registry · 2026 Trial counts and statuses sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. Sponsor counts include both industry and federal/academic sponsors.

Verify with NIH →

Every figure on PlainTrial is rendered directly from the ClinicalTrials.gov registry, no number is typed in by an editor. This page aggregates every registered trial for this condition, live from the dataset. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.