# Monoclonal antibody clinical trials in Europe by country and phase

A search for monoclonal antibody on ClinicalTrials.gov returns 3,600 open clinical trials, based on our download of 4 November 2026. 809 have at least one site in Europe, and 432 of 809 have a site in Spain, more than any other European country. Most are phase 2 or phase 3. If you sell bioprocess equipment, consumables or services, this is a public list of sponsors and a pointer to where the activity is.

[Web version](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/monoclonal-antibody-clinical-trials-europe-2026/)

By David Monje, crida studio · Published 2026-11-04 · Updated 2026-11-04

## How many monoclonal antibody trials are open in Europe

There are 809 open monoclonal antibody trials with at least one site in Europe, out of 3,600 worldwide. 1,790 have a site in the United States and 1,077 in China. 411 of the 809 European trials also have US sites.

Open here means the trial is recruiting, not yet recruiting, active but not recruiting, or enrolling by invitation. In Europe, 417 are recruiting right now, 350 remain active without recruiting and 39 have not started yet.

## Which European countries host the most trials

Spain hosts more open monoclonal antibody trials than any other European country, with 432. France follows with 406, then Italy with 343, the United Kingdom with 313 and Germany with 305. Poland has 221 and Belgium 220. Altogether, 28 European countries have at least one open trial.

The total is higher than 809 because a trial counts in every country where it has a site. Only 346 of the 809 run sites in a single European country, and France leads that group with 90. Spain has 37.

![Bar chart of trials by country. Spain 432, France 406, Italy 343, United Kingdom 313, Germany 305, Poland 221, Belgium 220 and the Netherlands 191.](https://www.crida.studio/recursos/assets/the-eight-european-countries-with-the-most-open-monoclonal-antibody-tr.3ce80828e49f.svg)

The eight European countries with the most open monoclonal antibody trials

| Country | Trials |
| --- | --- |
| Spain | 432 |
| France | 406 |
| Italy | 343 |
| United Kingdom | 313 |
| Germany | 305 |
| Poland | 221 |
| Belgium | 220 |
| Netherlands | 191 |

Open trials with at least one site in each country. A trial counts in every country where it has sites. ClinicalTrials.gov, downloaded on 4 November 2026.

Source: [ClinicalTrials.gov, API v2 (downloaded on 4 November 2026)](https://clinicaltrials.gov/api/v2/studies?query.intr=monoclonal+antibody&filter.overallStatus=RECRUITING%7CNOT_YET_RECRUITING%7CACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING%7CENROLLING_BY_INVITATION&filter.advanced=AREA%5BStudyType%5DINTERVENTIONAL&countTotal=true&pageSize=1000)


### What is the difference between phase 1, phase 2 and phase 3?

According to the FDA, phase 1 looks at safety and dosage in 20 to 100 people over several months. Phase 2 looks at efficacy and side effects in up to several hundred patients, over several months to two years. Phase 3 looks at efficacy and monitors adverse reactions in 300 to 3,000 participants over one to four years.

## Which phase the European trials are in

Phase 2 is the most common, with 267 of the 809 European trials, followed by phase 3 with 251. There are 110 phase 1 trials and 106 that combine phases 1 and 2. Phase 4, run once the medicine is approved, has 33.

Who sponsors each phase varies a lot. Industry sponsors 90 of the 110 phase 1 trials and 176 of the 251 phase 3 trials. In phase 2, though, 169 of 267 come from hospitals, universities, research groups or individual investigators, which the registry classes as other. Across Europe as a whole, industry sponsors 459 trials and these other sponsors 335.

![Bar chart of European trials by phase. Early phase 1 1, phase 1 110, phase 1/2 106, phase 2 267, phase 2/3 27, phase 3 251, phase 4 33 and no phase 14.](https://www.crida.studio/recursos/assets/european-monoclonal-antibody-trials-by-phase.b9fdd5239666.svg)

European monoclonal antibody trials by phase

| Phase | Trials |
| --- | --- |
| Early phase 1 | 1 |
| Phase 1 | 110 |
| Phase 1/2 | 106 |
| Phase 2 | 267 |
| Phase 2/3 | 27 |
| Phase 3 | 251 |
| Phase 4 | 33 |
| No phase | 14 |

Phase stated in the record of the 809 open trials with at least one site in Europe. ClinicalTrials.gov, downloaded on 4 November 2026.

Source: [ClinicalTrials.gov, API v2 (downloaded on 4 November 2026)](https://clinicaltrials.gov/api/v2/studies?query.intr=monoclonal+antibody&filter.overallStatus=RECRUITING%7CNOT_YET_RECRUITING%7CACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING%7CENROLLING_BY_INVITATION&filter.advanced=AREA%5BStudyType%5DINTERVENTIONAL&countTotal=true&pageSize=1000)

## What the trials with sites in Spain show

In Spain, industry carries more weight than in the rest of Europe. It sponsors 378 of the 432 trials with a Spanish site, through 109 different companies. Of the 377 European trials with no Spanish site, industry sponsors 81. In Spain, phase 3 leads with 168, followed by phase 2 with 113. Just 21 of the 432 have no site outside Spain.

The industry sponsors with the most trials in Spain are AstraZeneca with 33, Hoffmann-La Roche with 26, Bristol-Myers Squibb with 25, Merck Sharp & Dohme with 17, Regeneron with 15 and AbbVie with 14. We mention them only as registry data.

Spanish hospitals take part in many trials, but the product is made by the sponsor in its own plant or at a CDMO, often in another country. For a process supplier, a Spanish site is a sign of activity. The account is the sponsor and whoever manufactures for it.


### Does an open trial mean the sponsor will buy equipment or services?

Not necessarily. A trial tells you there is a medicine in development and a process that makes it, but not who manufactures it or when they buy. That is why we use it to prioritise accounts and tailor messages, not as a sales forecast. Actual purchases have to be confirmed by talking to each company.

## What each phase may signal to process equipment and service suppliers

A trial is not a purchase order, and we have no data on when each sponsor buys. In the United States, the FDA requires the application to start a trial to include manufacturing information. So by the time a trial shows up in the registry, there is usually a process that makes the product. Our working hypothesis is that each phase points to different needs.

- Phase 1 and phase 1/2. Small clinical batches and a process that is still changing. Process development and flexibility fit here.
- Phase 2. Many sponsors are hospitals and universities that do not manufacture. Focus mainly on the industry trials.
- Phase 2/3 and phase 3. Large, long trials. Scale-up, tech transfer and GMP documentation fit here.
- Phase 4. Medicines already approved. Commercial manufacturing and continuity of supply fit here.

## How to turn this data into a target account list

The query is public and can be rerun through the ClinicalTrials.gov API. In a spreadsheet, the marketing team can rank industry sponsors by number of trials, phase and country, and hand it to sales ahead of each trade show or campaign.

At crida studio we do this as part of marketing strategy work. We turn public registries like this one into account lists, phase-specific messages and web content that a sales team can use. We do not promise results, because they depend on each market.

- Split the 459 industry trials from the 335 run by hospitals, universities and other sponsors.
- Group by sponsor and check which phases each one has open trials in.
- Find where each sponsor manufactures or which CDMO it uses, from its press releases.
- Repeat the download every quarter and check which trials have moved phase.


### How often should this count be repeated?

The registry changes often, as sponsors open trials, close them and move them to the next phase. Rerunning it every quarter or before a major trade show is usually enough. With the same query and the same filters, the figures can be compared from one download to the next.

## How we counted and what the data cannot tell you

We queried the ClinicalTrials.gov API v2 on 4 November 2026. We searched for monoclonal antibody in the intervention search area, which covers intervention names, titles, keywords and MeSH terms and adds synonyms. We kept interventional studies that are recruiting, not yet recruiting, active but not recruiting, or enrolling by invitation, with no date filter. That gives 3,600 trials.

Europe here means the EU 27 plus the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, and a trial counts if it has at least one site in one of those countries. Phase and sponsor type are as stated in each record.

There are limits. 3,087 of the 3,600 have an intervention with antibody in its name or a name ending in -mab. The rest come in through the registry search, and we have not checked them one by one. The EU also has its own public register, the EMA's CTIS, which we did not query. We count trials, not purchases or production volume.

## References

- [ClinicalTrials.gov, API v2 query (downloaded on 4 November 2026)](https://clinicaltrials.gov/api/v2/studies?query.intr=monoclonal+antibody&filter.overallStatus=RECRUITING%7CNOT_YET_RECRUITING%7CACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING%7CENROLLING_BY_INVITATION&filter.advanced=AREA%5BStudyType%5DINTERVENTIONAL&countTotal=true&pageSize=1000)
- [ClinicalTrials.gov, API v2 search areas](https://clinicaltrials.gov/api/v2/studies/search-areas)
- [FDA, Step 3. Clinical Research](https://www.fda.gov/patients/drug-development-process/step-3-clinical-research)
- [EMA, Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS)](https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory-overview/research-development/clinical-trials-human-medicines/clinical-trials-information-system-ctis)

## The crida perspective

We are a marketing, brand and technology studio based in Girona. We bring identity, content and development together so a digital experience makes sense from beginning to end.

crida studio, Caldes de Malavella (Girona, Spain). David Monje, founder and director.

## Want to know which sponsors fit what you sell?

Tell us what you sell and who buys it. We will look at how to use public registries such as ClinicalTrials.gov to choose accounts, countries and messages for each phase.

[Get in touch](https://www.crida.studio/en/#contact)

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