Florida Clinical Trials Report — March 2026

Time is running out for Floridians looking to participate in several major medical studies. Over the next ninety days, 276 clinical trials across the state will permanently close their enrollment windows. This impending deadline affects both patients seeking novel therapies and residents without underlying conditions. Specifically, 61 of these soon-to-close studies are actively looking for healthy volunteers to help establish baseline medical data before their recruitment phases end.

Patients managing specific diagnoses have a brief window to join research initiatives before they transition to the data analysis phase. Oncology and mental health studies represent a significant portion of these closing trials, with breast cancer research facing the most immediate deadlines. Final enrollment opportunities are rapidly disappearing for studies targeting the following conditions:

• Prostate cancer
• Triple-negative breast cancer
• HER2-positive breast cancer
• Multiple myeloma
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Clinical depression
• Coronary artery disease
• Chronic pain

Major Phase 3 and High-Capacity Research Launches

Despite the wave of closures, March brings a fresh influx of research opportunities. Florida saw 81 new clinical trials open this month, a slight decrease from the ninety studies launched in January, but still representing a massive investment from both academic and industry leaders. Major pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Gilead Sciences are driving the industry side, while the University of Miami and the University of Florida lead academic efforts.

Several high-capacity studies and critical Phase 3 drug trials are now accepting participants across the state:

• The Mayo Clinic is launching a massive observational study (NCT07455370) seeking over twenty-one thousand participants to examine moral distress, moral injury, and post-traumatic stress levels among nursing staff.
• Gilead Sciences is recruiting three thousand individuals for a real-world implementation study (NCT07473778) evaluating the use of lenacapavir for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis across diverse clinical settings.
• Boehringer Ingelheim has opened a Phase 3 trial (NCT07472517) for adults with advanced small cell lung cancer, testing whether the investigational medicine obrixtamig improves survival rates when combined with standard chemotherapy.
• Verrica Pharmaceuticals is enrolling six hundred patients in a Phase 3 long-term follow-up study (NCT07457918) assessing the safety of YCANTH for the treatment of common warts.
• Dartmouth College is sponsoring a unique study (NCT07454733) involving eight hundred participants to determine if video recordings of multidisciplinary clinic visits improve the quality of life for people with ALS and their caregivers.
• Imperative Care is evaluating a new neurothrombectomy device for stroke patients (NCT07491952), seeking seven hundred fifty participants to test the effectiveness of a continuous dual aspiration technique.
• The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute is recruiting six hundred cancer survivors (NCT07447635) to test a mindfulness-based intervention aimed at smoking cessation and reducing at-risk alcohol use.
• Weill Medical College of Cornell University is seeking six hundred older adults (NCT07485725) to help develop digital assistant technology tools tailored for healthcare management tasks.

Geographic Spread and Statewide Accessibility

Florida maintains a highly accessible clinical research infrastructure. Currently, 3,809 active trials are recruiting across one hundred ninety-six cities, utilizing over four thousand six hundred individual research sites. This extensive network ensures that cutting-edge medical interventions are available far beyond a single metropolitan area.

This month's newly opened trials are heavily concentrated in the state's major population centers, though opportunities remain geographically diverse. Miami leads the state with nineteen new studies, followed closely by Jacksonville with thirteen. Orlando and Tampa each added twelve new trials to their local research portfolios. Beyond these primary hubs, residents can find newly launched research initiatives in several other municipalities:

• Tallahassee
• Miami Lakes
• Gainesville
• St. Petersburg
• Plantation
• Coral Gables

Targeted Interventions and Participant Eligibility

The therapeutic focus of March's new trials leans heavily toward pharmaceutical development, with 50 new drug trials entering the recruitment phase. Researchers are also evaluating fourteen behavioral interventions, eleven medical devices, and a handful of biological and diagnostic tests.

Metabolic and ophthalmic conditions are central to this month's research agenda. Eye health is a particularly strong focus, with eight separate new trials targeting diabetic macular edema and two focusing on neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Investigators are also actively seeking patients diagnosed with obesity, type 2 diabetes, Crohn's disease, stress response disorders, and mild cognitive impairment.

Eligibility criteria for these new studies demonstrate a strong commitment to older populations. Of the newly launched trials, 71 are specifically designed to include older adults, ensuring that age-related conditions receive adequate scientific attention. Pediatric research also sees growth, with ten new studies open to children and adolescents. Highly specific demographic research includes four trials exclusively enrolling females and two exclusively for males.

For Floridians without a specific medical diagnosis, sixteen of this month's new trials are actively welcoming healthy volunteers. This steady influx of preventive and baseline research brings the total number of open, recruiting trials for healthy participants across the state to 454.

As the spring research season progresses, Florida's clinical trial ecosystem is positioned to expand its focus on metabolic therapies and advanced oncological treatments, driven by sustained investment from both regional cancer centers and global pharmaceutical sponsors.