Clinical Trials & FDA Data Scraper

Extract clinical trial data from ClinicalTrials.gov and FDA data from openFDA in one unified actor. Perfect for pharma intelligence, clinical research, regulatory monitoring, and biotech investment analysis.

Data Sources

Source	Data Type	Records Available
ClinicalTrials.gov	Clinical trials	400,000+ studies
openFDA - FAERS	Drug adverse events	Millions of reports
openFDA - SPL	Drug labels/prescribing info	100,000+ labels
openFDA - Enforcement	Drug & device recalls	All FDA recalls
openFDA - Drugs@FDA	Drug approvals	26,000+ drugs
openFDA - MAUDE	Device adverse events	Millions of reports
openFDA - 510(k)	Device clearances	200,000+ clearances

Features

• Multi-source search: Query clinical trials and FDA data in a single run
• Unified schema: Consistent output format across all data types
• AI summaries (optional): GPT-powered trial analysis and adverse event pattern detection (falls back to rule-based summaries when no API key provided)
• No authentication required: All APIs are public and free
• Rate-limit compliant: Built-in throttling respects API limits
• Public domain data: All data is CC0/public domain, legal to use commercially

Use Cases

• Pharma competitive intelligence: Monitor competitor clinical trials and FDA submissions
• Clinical researchers: Find trials for systematic reviews, identify research gaps
• Biotech investors: Track drug pipeline progress, FDA approval timelines
• Regulatory teams: Monitor recalls, adverse events, compliance issues
• Market access teams: Evidence generation, investigator discovery

Example Inputs

Search clinical trials for a condition

{
  "dataSources": ["clinicaltrials"],
  "condition": "breast cancer",
  "phase": ["PHASE3"],
  "status": ["RECRUITING"],
  "maxResults": 100
}

Get FDA data for a specific drug

{
  "dataSources": ["openfda"],
  "drugName": "Keytruda",
  "includeAdverseEvents": true,
  "includeDrugLabels": true,
  "includeRecalls": true,
  "maxResults": 500
}

Combined search for a drug

{
  "dataSources": ["clinicaltrials", "openfda"],
  "intervention": "pembrolizumab",
  "drugName": "Keytruda",
  "genericName": "pembrolizumab",
  "phase": ["PHASE2", "PHASE3"],
  "maxResults": 200
}

Search for device recalls

{
  "dataSources": ["openfda"],
  "deviceName": "pacemaker",
  "recallClass": "I",
  "includeRecalls": true,
  "includeDevice510k": true,
  "dateFrom": "2023-01-01"
}

Input Parameters

Data Source Selection

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
dataSources	array	["clinicaltrials"]	Data sources to query: "clinicaltrials", "openfda"

ClinicalTrials.gov Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
condition	string	Disease or condition to search
intervention	string	Drug, device, or other intervention
searchTerm	string	General search term
sponsor	string	Sponsor name
location	string	Geographic location
status	array	Trial statuses: RECRUITING, COMPLETED, ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING, etc.
phase	array	Trial phases: PHASE1, PHASE2, PHASE3, PHASE4
studyType	string	Study type: INTERVENTIONAL, OBSERVATIONAL
nctIds	array	Specific NCT IDs to retrieve

openFDA Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
drugName	string	Brand name of drug
genericName	string	Generic name of drug
deviceName	string	Device name for device searches
manufacturerName	string	Manufacturer name
recallClass	string	Recall classification: I, II, III
productDescription	string	Product description text

Shared Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
dateFrom	string	-	Start date (YYYY-MM-DD)
dateTo	string	-	End date (YYYY-MM-DD)
maxResults	number	100	Maximum records to return (openFDA adverse events limited to 25,000)

Feature Flags

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
includeAISummary	boolean	true	Generate AI summaries (requires openaiApiKey)
includeAdverseEvents	boolean	true	Include FAERS/MAUDE adverse events
includeDrugLabels	boolean	true	Include SPL drug labels
includeRecalls	boolean	true	Include enforcement/recalls
includeDrugApprovals	boolean	true	Include Drugs@FDA approvals
includeDevice510k	boolean	true	Include 510(k) clearances

API Keys (Optional)

Parameter	Type	Description
openfdaApiKey	string	openFDA API key for higher rate limits (240 vs 40 req/min). Get free at open.fda.gov
openaiApiKey	string	OpenAI API key for AI-powered summaries. Without this, rule-based summaries are generated

Output Schema

Each record includes a dataType field indicating the data source:

• clinical_trial - ClinicalTrials.gov study
• drug_adverse_event - FAERS adverse event report
• drug_label - SPL drug label
• drug_recall - Drug enforcement/recall
• drug_approval - Drugs@FDA approval
• device_adverse_event - MAUDE device event
• device_recall - Device enforcement/recall
• device_510k - 510(k) clearance
• adverse_event_summary - AI-generated summary (if enabled)

Clinical Trial Fields

Field	Description
nctId	NCT identifier
briefTitle	Study title
overallStatus	Current status (RECRUITING, COMPLETED, etc.)
phases	Trial phases
conditions	Target conditions/diseases
interventions	Treatments being studied
leadSponsor	Sponsor name and class
enrollmentCount	Target enrollment
locations	Study sites with geo coordinates
primaryOutcomes	Primary outcome measures
eligibilityCriteria	Inclusion/exclusion criteria
url	Direct link to trial

FDA Adverse Event Fields

Field	Description
safetyReportId	FAERS report ID
serious	Whether event was serious
drugs	Drugs involved with characterization
reactions	Reported adverse reactions
patientAge, patientSex	Patient demographics
seriousnessDeath	Fatal outcome flag

API Rate Limits

API	Rate Limit	Notes
ClinicalTrials.gov	~50 req/min	No API key needed
openFDA (no key)	40 req/min	Free, limited
openFDA (with key)	240 req/min	Free key at open.fda.gov

The actor automatically respects these limits with built-in throttling.

Pricing

This actor uses standard Apify compute units. A typical run:

• 100 clinical trials: ~0.05 CU
• 1,000 adverse events: ~0.1 CU
• Full drug profile (all data types): ~0.2 CU

Key-Value Store Schema

The actor stores the following data in the key-value store:

RUN_STATS

{
  "clinicalTrials": 100,
  "drugAdverseEvents": 500,
  "drugLabels": 5,
  "drugRecalls": 2,
  "drugApprovals": 1,
  "deviceAdverseEvents": 0,
  "deviceRecalls": 0,
  "device510k": 0
}

Legal & Data License

• ClinicalTrials.gov: U.S. government work, no restrictions on use
• openFDA: CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain Dedication)
• All data is legal to use, modify, and distribute commercially

Support

For issues or feature requests, please contact the author through the Apify platform.

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Built by JCD | Data from ClinicalTrials.gov & openFDA