DrugEvidence

Drugs / Ketamine

Ketamine

Drug

Ketamine is a cyclohexanone-derived general anesthetic with analgesic and dissociative properties used in anesthesia, pain care, and depression-related treatment settings. It is pharmacologically an NMDA receptor antagonist with broader CNS effects. Ketamine was approved for use in the United States in 1970.

Trials
1053
Recruiting
97
Completed
559
With results
229

Last revised

Pipeline

Phase by status

PhaseRecruitingNot yetBy invitationActiveCompletedTerminatedWithdrawnSuspendedUnknownTotal
Early Phase 1 32244515 44
Phase 1 94152144111 96
Phase 1/2 61115226 33
Phase 2 2071577209412 155
Phase 2/3 5331366 54
Phase 3 165639109322 110
Phase 4 175131762618350 299
Not applicable 16524120186144 216
Unknown 5232538 46

Trials started per year

2021
14
2022
84
2023
60
2024
58
2025
63
2026
40
2027
2
2028
1
2099
1

Conditions studied, by phase

ConditionEarly Phase 1Phase 1Phase 1/2Phase 2Phase 2/3Phase 3Phase 4Not applicableUnknownTotal
Depression 81633371325183 126
Pain 274632141224 110
Depressive Disorder, Major 6115265819198 107
Pain, Postoperative 26349949202 104
Agnosia 151241024184 69
Depressive Disorder, Treatment-Resistant 2514461084 53
Acute Pain 212542242 42
Chronic Pain 22625974 37
Suicidal Ideation 41183585 35
Bipolar Disorder 221815535 32

Most active sponsors

#SponsorTrialsPhase 3
1Assiut University3511
2Yale University260
3Ain Shams University224
4Cairo University153
5Massachusetts General Hospital152
6New York State Psychiatric Institute150
7Mayo Clinic141
8Zagazig University122
9Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris117
10Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai111

Most studied interventions

#InterventionTrials
1Ketamine1053
2Midazolam122
3Dexmedetomidine108
4Sodium Chloride101
5Saline Solution91
6Propofol84
7Fentanyl68
8Lidocaine53
9Bupivacaine38
10Morphine35

Evidence

Results reported
41%229 of 559 completed
Published
12%67 of 559 completed
Primary endpoint met
22.8%41 of 180 analyses
Median months to report
15

Documents disclosed

Protocol available
143
Statistical analysis plan
138
PubMed citations
373

Trial profile

Median enrollment
60
Median duration
20months
Countries
59
Study sites
1112

Who is enrolled

Adults
919
Children
195
Older adults
689
Healthy volunteers
229

Median enrollment by phase

Early Phase 1
19
Phase 1
28
Phase 1/2
30
Phase 2
41
Phase 2/3
52
Phase 3
60
Phase 4
60
Not applicable
61
Unknown
87

Where trials run

United States
443
Egypt
127
Canada
55
Turkey (Türkiye)
42
France
39
Israel
25
Brazil
22
China
19
South Korea
14
United Kingdom
14

Busiest cities

#CityCountryTrials
1New YorkUnited States57
2CairoEgypt47
3BostonUnited States27
4AsyutEgypt25
5New HavenUnited States25
6TorontoCanada20
7HoustonUnited States17
8ChicagoUnited States15
9RochesterUnited States15
10MinneapolisUnited States14

Terminations

Terminated
97
Withdrawn
62
Suspended
13
Stopped for recruitment
3.4%36 of 1053 trials

Stated reasons

Other / unclear
83
Recruitment
36
Funding
27
COVID-19
12
Regulatory
7
Lack of efficacy
5
Business decision
1
Safety
1

Reasons are grouped from the sponsor's own wording with a rule-based classifier; the original text is shown below.

Recently stopped

TrialStatusStated reasonStopped
NCT05945147 Withdrawn Withdrawn Lack of funding 2099-05-31
NCT06816433 Suspended Suspended Deferred at this time 2029-07-31
NCT04291521 Withdrawn Withdrawn PI left institution. 2029-07-30
NCT05991232 Withdrawn Withdrawn This study never started enrollment at this site. Delays in establishing the infrastructure for this project resulted in the funds no longer being available at this time. Should additional funds be secured, a separate study will be registered here. 2029-04-30
NCT06919198 Withdrawn Withdrawn IND application was not approved 2028-08-31
NCT07182032 Withdrawn Withdrawn Study never opened 2028-06-30
NCT04640636 Suspended Suspended The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP) issued an FWA restriction on NYSPI research that also included a pause of human subjects research as of June 23, 2023. 2028-03-31
NCT06767566 Suspended Suspended Study is paused while preparing for implementation at IND Sponsor's new institution 2028-03-31
NCT06378528 Suspended Suspended Budgeting/funding 2027-09-30
NCT06429657 Suspended Suspended administrative hold at current open site and awaiting site startup at additional participating sites 2027-06-30

Trial records

Individual study records live on ClinicalTrials.gov. A sample of the trials counted above:

Search all Ketamine trials on ClinicalTrials.gov →