# ClinicalTrials.gov Scraper & Trial Change Tracker: PubMed + FDA (`clearfeedlabs/clinical-trial-tracker`) Actor

Track clinical trials from the official ClinicalTrials.gov API v2: status changes, completion-date slips, results posted, new trials. Optional add-ons: linked PubMed papers and FDA approval status (openFDA). Clean rows, no contact PII.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/clearfeedlabs/clinical-trial-tracker.md
- **Developed by:** [Clearfeed Labs](https://apify.com/clearfeedlabs) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Business, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 trial rows

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

### ClinicalTrials.gov Scraper & Clinical Trial Change Tracker (PubMed + FDA)

**Clinical Trial & Cure Tracker** turns the official **ClinicalTrials.gov API v2** into a clean, analysis-ready feed of clinical trials, and, unlike a plain scraper, it **tells you what changed**: status changes (recruiting → completed / terminated), completion dates that slip, enrollment changes, recruiting sites added or closed, and **results posted**. Optional add-ons attach **linked PubMed papers** and the **FDA approval status** of each studied drug.

Built for **biotech and pharma competitive-intelligence teams, investors and analysts, CROs and site-selection teams, patient-advocacy groups, medical writers and health journalists**.

- Search by **condition, intervention/drug, sponsor, free text, location, NCT ID watchlist**, recruitment status, phase, study type, lead-sponsor type (industry / NIH / federal) and "updated in the last N days".
- **Change mode** (`changesSinceLastRun`): schedule it daily or weekly and get only new trials and changed trials, each with a field-by-field `changes` diff and a plain-English `changeSummary`.
- **One flat row per trial**: phases, conditions, interventions, lead sponsor and class, collaborators, enrollment, start / primary completion / completion dates, results flag, site counts, countries, U.S. states, eligibility basics, and the official study link.
- **Privacy by design**: investigator and site contact names, emails and phone numbers are never collected.

No login, no API key, no cookies and no proxies: only documented public government APIs, called politely with an identifying User-Agent.

#### Why this one

| | Clinical Trial & Cure Tracker | Typical ClinicalTrials.gov scraper on the Store |
|---|---|---|
| Change tracking | Status, phase, enrollment, completion dates, results posted, recruiting sites, why-stopped, with a diff per trial | Full dump every run; you diff it yourself |
| Watchlists | NCT ID lists plus named watchlists (`stateKey`) with separate history | Rarely |
| Publications | Add-on: PubMed papers citing the trial (title, journal, date, DOI) | None |
| FDA status | Add-on: Drugs@FDA approval status, application numbers, first approval date per studied drug | None |
| Sponsor intel | Filter by lead-sponsor type (industry / NIH / federal) and sponsor names | Basic keyword only |
| Privacy | No contact PII | Often exports investigator emails and phones |
| Empty input | Exits cleanly with no charge | Fails or bills a full scrape |

#### Pricing (pay per event, you only pay for rows you receive)

| Event | Price | When |
|---|---|---|
| Trial row | **$0.002** ($2 per 1,000) | Each trial returned |
| Change alert row | $0.004 | Only in change mode, only for a trial that actually changed (replaces the trial-row charge) |
| PubMed publications add-on | +$0.002 per trial | Only if `addPublications` is on (off by default) |
| FDA status add-on | +$0.002 per trial | Only if `addFdaStatus` is on (off by default) |
| Actor start | $0.00005 | Apify's standard start event |

**How that compares:** plain ClinicalTrials.gov scrapers on the Store charge roughly **$2–$10 per 1,000 rows** (several add a $0.02–$0.10 start fee). Our base row sits at the low end of that range. A change alert costs a bit more because it does work you'd otherwise do yourself (keeping history and diffing every field), and in change mode unchanged trials cost **nothing**, so a weekly watch of 500 trials where 20 changed costs about **$0.08**, not the price of a 500-row re-scrape. Add-ons are opt-in, so you never pay for enrichment you didn't ask for. Set **Max charge per run** in Apify to cap any run.

#### Input examples

Recruiting Phase 2/3 glioblastoma trials with papers and FDA status:

```json
{ "conditions": ["glioblastoma"], "statuses": ["RECRUITING"], "phases": ["PHASE2", "PHASE3"], "addPublications": true, "addFdaStatus": true, "maxItems": 50 }
```

Weekly competitor pipeline watch (schedule this):

```json
{ "sponsors": ["Novo Nordisk", "Eli Lilly"], "conditions": ["obesity"], "sponsorClass": "INDUSTRY", "mode": "changesSinceLastRun", "stateKey": "obesity-competitors", "maxItems": 500 }
```

Track specific trials:

```json
{ "nctIds": ["NCT03970447", "NCT04280705"], "mode": "changesSinceLastRun", "stateKey": "my-watchlist" }
```

#### Output (one row)

`rowType` (`trial` or `change-alert`), `nctId`, `title`, `officialTitle`, `acronym`, `overallStatus`, `whyStopped`, `studyType`, `phases`, `conditions`, `keywords`, `interventions[]`, `leadSponsor`, `sponsorClass`, `collaborators`, `enrollment`, `startDate`, `primaryCompletionDate`, `completionDate`, `firstPosted`, `lastUpdatePosted`, `resultsFirstPosted`, `hasResults`, `eligibility`, `locationCount`, `recruitingSiteCount`, `countries`, `usStates`, `referencePmids`, `isNew`, `isChanged`, `changes[]`, `changeSummary[]`, `url`, plus `publications[]` / `publicationCount` and `fdaStatus[]` when the add-ons are on. A `SUMMARY` record in the run's key-value store shows totals, requests and any warnings.

#### Tips

- The first change-mode run for a watchlist is a baseline: every trial is new. Changes appear from the second run.
- Results are sorted by most recently updated first, so a small `maxItems` gives you the freshest activity.
- The FDA add-on matches intervention names against Drugs@FDA generic and brand names; investigational codes (e.g. "ABC-123") normally return no match, which itself tells you the drug isn't approved under that name.

#### Data sources and legal notes

- **ClinicalTrials.gov API v2** (U.S. National Library of Medicine): public, documented, no key. Spaced at about 1 request per second.
- **NCBI E-utilities** (PubMed): documented public API; we send `tool` and `email` as NCBI asks and stay under 3 requests per second.
- **openFDA Drugs@FDA**: public, documented, no key; we stay well inside openFDA's keyless limits.
- Data from U.S. government sources is public domain; PubMed metadata is used as bibliographic citation only (no full text). This Actor isn't affiliated with or endorsed by NLM, NIH or FDA.

#### Disclaimer: not medical advice

This Actor reorganizes public registry and regulatory data. **It is not medical, legal or investment advice**, and it does not recommend any trial, treatment or security. Registry entries are submitted by sponsors and can be incomplete, outdated or wrong; openFDA itself warns that its data is unvalidated. Patients should talk to their doctor and the study team before acting on any trial listing. Always confirm details on the linked official record.

#### Support

Found a problem or want a field added? Open an issue on this Actor's **Issues** tab; we fix things fast. More Clearfeed Labs data feeds: [clearfeedlabs.com](https://clearfeedlabs.com).

# Actor input Schema

## `conditions` (type: `array`):

Diseases or conditions, e.g. 'glioblastoma', 'type 2 diabetes'. Several values are OR-ed. ClinicalTrials.gov expands synonyms.

## `interventions` (type: `array`):

Drug, device or therapy names, e.g. 'semaglutide', 'CAR-T'. OR-ed.

## `sponsors` (type: `array`):

Lead sponsor or collaborator names, e.g. 'Pfizer', 'National Cancer Institute'. OR-ed. Great for competitor pipeline monitoring.

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Free-text terms searched across the whole record. OR-ed.

## `nctIds` (type: `array`):

Track specific trials, e.g. NCT04280705. Up to 500.

## `location` (type: `string`):

City, state or country with trial sites, e.g. 'Texas' or 'Boston, Massachusetts'.

## `statuses` (type: `array`):

Leave empty for all statuses.

## `phases` (type: `array`):

Leave empty for all phases.

## `studyType` (type: `string`):

Leave empty for all.

## `sponsorClass` (type: `string`):

INDUSTRY = pharma/biotech/device companies.

## `updatedWithinDays` (type: `integer`):

Only trials whose record was updated recently. Results are always newest-updated first.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Change mode compares status, phase, enrollment, completion dates, results posted, recruiting sites and why-stopped against your previous run and outputs only new or changed trials, each with a field-by-field diff.

## `stateKey` (type: `string`):

Separate change history per saved search, e.g. 'oncology-competitors'.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Cap on output rows (and cost).

## `addPublications` (type: `boolean`):

Adds papers that cite the NCT ID or are listed as references, with title, journal, date, DOI and link (NCBI E-utilities).

## `addFdaStatus` (type: `boolean`):

Checks each drug/biologic intervention in Drugs@FDA (openFDA): approved or not, application numbers, sponsor, first approval date.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "conditions": [
    "glioblastoma"
  ],
  "mode": "all",
  "stateKey": "default",
  "maxItems": 100,
  "addPublications": false,
  "addFdaStatus": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "conditions": [
        "glioblastoma"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("clearfeedlabs/clinical-trial-tracker").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "conditions": ["glioblastoma"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("clearfeedlabs/clinical-trial-tracker").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "conditions": [
    "glioblastoma"
  ]
}' |
apify call clearfeedlabs/clinical-trial-tracker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,clearfeedlabs/clinical-trial-tracker"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/GOY6VqQbcLvSVjBEb/builds/SzAf2pOhZxEcArw2r/openapi.json