Menopause Clinical Trials Tracker: What’s Recruiting Now—and Whether You’d Qualify

This menopause clinical trials tracker shows which U.S. studies are recruiting now and surfaces the facts that usually decide whether a call is worth making: location, age, symptom threshold, current-HRT rule, placebo design, visit burden, compensation language, and source freshness. Only the study team can determine whether you qualify.

Best for you if: you can follow a study’s diary and visit schedule, you are willing to be screened against exact rules, and you want either access to research or a way to contribute even when personal benefit is uncertain.

Not for you if: you need relief immediately, your current treatment is helping and you do not want to change it, you cannot reach required visits, or your real problem is the price of ordinary care. There is a faster route for that later on this page.

One constraint, up front: no filter here decides that you qualify. A study team makes that decision after prescreening and formal screening. Informed consent is then your decision about whether to participate. This page can stop you wasting weeks on an obvious mismatch; it cannot enroll you.

It depends on your situation → use The HRT Index's Find My HRT Path tool. It uses your symptoms, age, uterus status, medication preferences, risk history, insurance, and state to route you—and to flag when online care isn't the right starting point.

The HRT Index is the independent decision resource for online menopause and HRT care — comparing telehealth providers on clinical legitimacy, care quality, medication fit, price transparency, and access, with every claim verified and dated, so women can choose the path that fits their situation before their first consult.

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Find menopause clinical trials near you

Answer capsule: Start with the study’s official recruitment status, then check the specific site—not just the national record. A study can be “Recruiting” overall while the location nearest you has already filled. Search by ZIP and distance first, then compare symptom focus, study type, current-HRT rule, placebo design, and visit burden.

Find studies open near me →

The tracker does not require an email or account. It asks for a ZIP and filter choices, not a street address. Standard site analytics and outbound-link attribution are explained in the Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy. Every result links to the official government record and, where available, the named institution’s participant page.

Each result tells you:

• the NCT number and direct ClinicalTrials.gov record;
• the official overall status and the status of each listed site;
• the sponsor’s latest record-update date;
• age, geography, study type, phase when applicable, and intervention;
• any public symptom threshold, current-HRT rule, placebo design, compensation statement, and visit requirement;
• “Not stated—ask the study team” wherever the public record is silent.

That last line is not filler. It is the rule that keeps a blank field from becoming a bad decision.

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Which menopause clinical trials are recruiting now?

Answer capsule: On September 3, 2026, verified U.S. options included a tirzepatide hot-flash study in Jacksonville, a three-site menopause-transition study, a home-based sleep-and-light study limited to San Diego County, a Mayo neurovascular physiology study, and a Michigan resistance-training study. Confirm the specific location is still enrolling before making plans.

“Menopause trial” is not one thing. One study may test a prescription drug. Another may test exercise, light exposure, or a care strategy. Another may not treat you at all—it may measure blood-vessel function, sleep, metabolism, or mood to answer a question the field still cannot answer cleanly.

That distinction changes what you are signing up for. So does the difference between an overall record marked “Recruiting” and a location that is actually taking calls.

The Participant Reality Ledger

Answer capsule: This selected snapshot is built for a decision, not a headline count. Every row has an official NCT record plus a current institution or sponsor source. The last four columns expose what ordinary directories bury: the first likely gate, real participation burden, medication restrictions, and how fresh the supporting record was when checked.

Study	Status on September 3, 2026	Where	First likely gate	What participation asks	Current HRT or medication rule	Source freshness
Tirzepatide for menopausal vasomotor symptoms and biological aging (NCT07218445)	Recruiting; Mayo Jacksonville says open for enrollment	Jacksonville, Florida	Women ages 46–60; postmenopausal; BMI at least 30, or at least 27 with a qualifying weight-related condition; at least 28 bothersome hot flashes a week	Randomized tirzepatide or placebo; willingness to self-inject; specified calorie deficit and at least 150 minutes of weekly activity	Public criteria exclude current menopausal hormone therapy, vaginal estrogen, androgens, progestogens, fezolinetant, and several other therapies	Mayo eligibility updated July 23, 2026; checked September 3, 2026
Focusing on the Menopausal Transition to Improve Mid-Life Women’s Health (NCT06975111)	Recruiting	Aurora, Colorado; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia	Ages 45–55; 60–364 days without a period; uterus and at least one ovary; smartphone and adequate broadband	Multi-site phase 2/3 study involving lifestyle and medication strategies; some telehealth, but not a fully remote study	No current hormone therapy or hormonal contraception	Sponsor record updated July 21, 2026; checked September 3, 2026
Sleep and Light Intervention for Menopausal Mood Dysfunction (SALI) (NCT06678880)	Recruiting; UC San Diego says accepting new participants	San Diego County, California	Women ages 45–75 with significant low mood that began or worsened during the menopause transition	About 4½ months, completed from home: wrist monitoring, two overnight urine collections, one altered-sleep night, two weeks of timed light-box use, Zoom interviews, and surveys	UC San Diego says no planned medication start, stop, or change during the next four months; ask how that applies to your exact treatment	UC San Diego updated August 3, 2026; checked September 3, 2026
Hot Flashes and Neurovascular Function in Women (NCT05193968)	Recruiting; Mayo Rochester says open for enrollment	Rochester, Minnesota	Mayo’s current site page lists women ages 45–60, non-smokers, non-obese, with at least one ovary and no cardiovascular disease	Vascular and nerve-function testing; this is not a light-touch symptom survey	Mayo says no medications that influence cardiovascular function. Its short public criteria do not name HRT—ask about your exact product	Mayo page checked September 3, 2026
Hemodynamics after Resistance Training (HeART) (NCT07022340)	Recruiting	Ann Arbor, Michigan	Women ages 40–60 in the menopause transition who are not already doing regular resistance training	Sixteen weeks; one group lifts twice weekly, while the comparison group receives menopause-education emails; vascular, sleep, mood, and symptom measures are collected	Public registry criteria exclude current HRT and HRT use within the previous six months	University of Michigan study page and registry checked September 3, 2026

A public “Recruiting” label still does not promise that your nearest site has a slot. Ask one sentence before arranging travel:

“Is this specific location still enrolling for NCT________?”

Studies that old directories can still make look open

Answer capsule: A study can remain scientifically active after enrollment closes, and stale directory pages can preserve an old status for months. The five records below are useful for understanding the pipeline or published results, but none belongs in an “open now” list. That distinction alone can save an unnecessary call.

Study	Current status	What it means for you
ABCL635 for vasomotor symptoms (NCT07118891)	Active, not recruiting	The phase 1/2 study is continuing, but it is closed to new participants.
HIGHLIGHT 1: fezolinetant during breast-cancer endocrine therapy (NCT06440967)	Active, not recruiting	The study is ongoing; new enrollment is closed.
OASIS 4: elinzanetant during breast-cancer endocrine therapy (NCT05587296)	Active, not recruiting	Results are published, but the registry still classifies the trial as ongoing and closed—not completed.
NIRVANA: elinzanetant and objective sleep disturbance (NCT06112756)	Completed	Useful as an eligibility and study-design benchmark, not as an enrollment option.
Hot-water therapy for menopause-related hot flashes (NCT06192329)	Withdrawn	The study was withdrawn with enrollment reported as zero. It should not appear in an open-studies list.

Statuses move. Site openings move faster. Before you call, open the official record, find the location nearest you, and ask whether that site is still enrolling.

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What do “recruiting,” “not yet recruiting,” and “active, not recruiting” mean?

Answer capsule: ClinicalTrials.gov uses defined sponsor-reported statuses. “Recruiting” means at least one location may be enrolling; “Not yet recruiting” means enrollment has not opened; “Enrolling by invitation” restricts entry to invited people; and “Active, not recruiting” means the study is continuing but closed to new participants. A commercial directory’s custom badge is not an official status.

This trips up almost everybody, and it is not your fault. Trial directories often add their own display language on top of the registry. That language may be useful, but it cannot replace the official status or the site-level contact check.

Official label	What it means	Can you join today?
Recruiting	The study is seeking participants at one or more locations	Maybe. Confirm the specific location nearest you.
Not yet recruiting	The study is registered, but enrollment has not begun	No. Follow the record for a status change.
Enrolling by invitation	Recruitment is limited to a defined group invited by the researchers	Not unless you are in that group and invited.
Active, not recruiting	The study is continuing, but no new participants are being enrolled	No.
Completed	The study ended normally and participants are no longer being examined or treated for data collection	No.
Terminated	The study stopped early after enrollment began	No. Read the record for the reason.
Withdrawn	The study stopped before participants enrolled	No.
Unknown	The last reported recruitment status is not current enough to rely on	Do not treat it as open without direct confirmation.

One more thing “Recruiting” does not mean: it does not guarantee that every listed site is open, that a slot remains, that the contact will answer, or that you meet the criteria. ClinicalTrials.gov records are supplied by the sponsor or investigator, and the registry warns that the U.S. government does not review or approve the safety and science of every listed study. See the official status definitions and ClinicalTrials.gov disclaimer.

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Would you actually qualify? The numbers that decide it

Answer capsule: Hot-flash treatment trials often start with arithmetic: how many moderate or severe episodes you record during a defined week. Other studies may care more about menopause stage, mood or sleep criteria, BMI, current medication, cardiovascular health, or whether you can complete repeated visits. Meeting one gate never guarantees enrollment.

Nobody places these thresholds next to each other. So here they are.

The entry-gate ladder

Answer capsule: Four studies used four different front doors: 28 bothersome episodes for the current tirzepatide study, 50 moderate-to-severe episodes for OASIS 1 and 2, 35 for OASIS 4, and 20 plus objective sleep disturbance for NIRVANA. The number is not a severity verdict. It is one protocol’s measurement gate.

Study	Symptom gate used in the study	Rough daily equivalent	What else mattered
Tirzepatide hot-flash study—currently recruiting (NCT07218445)	At least 28 bothersome hot flashes a week	4 a day	Ages 46–60, postmenopausal, obesity or overweight with a qualifying weight-related condition, willingness to self-inject, and no current therapies listed in the exclusion criteria
OASIS 1 and OASIS 2—completed pivotal Lynkuet trials	At least 50 moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms a week	About 7 a day	Postmenopausal participants ages 40–65; randomized 1:1 to elinzanetant or placebo for the first 12 weeks
OASIS 4—active, not recruiting (NCT05587296)	At least 35 moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms a week	5 a day	Women ages 18–70 receiving endocrine therapy for hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer or its prevention; randomized 2:1
NIRVANA—completed (NCT06112756)	At least 20 moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms a week	About 3 a day	Objective sleep disturbance: at least 30 minutes awake after sleep onset on overnight polysomnography

The bar is not a judgment about how bad your symptoms are. It is arithmetic built around that study’s population and outcome measure.

So if you were turned down once, that was a verdict on that study’s math. Not on you. A different study may have a gate you clear. That is exactly why a tracker beats one listing.

Gate two: current treatment

Many treatment trials restrict therapies that could change the same outcome being measured. That does not create one universal “HRT washout.” Each protocol decides which products count and how long any washout lasts.

The current examples show why blanket advice fails:

• The tirzepatide study excludes several current hormonal and non-hormonal menopause therapies, including vaginal estrogen.
• The menopause-transition study excludes current hormone therapy and hormonal contraception.
• The HeART exercise study excludes current HRT and use within the previous six months.
• SALI focuses on medication stability rather than publishing a blanket HRT exclusion on its short institutional page.
• The Mayo neurovascular page says participants cannot take medication that influences cardiovascular function, but its short summary does not name HRT.

Say it plainly to yourself: if my current treatment is helping, joining some treatment trials could mean being asked to give it up, then possibly being assigned to placebo. For a lot of women, that alone answers the question.

Never stop, taper, pause, or change a prescribed medication to qualify for research. The study team must explain the protocol, and your own clinician should help decide whether a change is medically appropriate.

Gate three: the screening nobody warns you about

Screening is not always a questionnaire. Depending on the protocol, it may involve a symptom diary, medication review, physical examination, laboratory testing, electrocardiography, imaging, sleep-lab testing, or research-only procedures.

The current ledger makes that burden concrete. The Mayo neurovascular study uses vascular and nerve-function measurements. SALI asks for months of timed home activities and monitoring. The tirzepatide study adds self-injection and lifestyle requirements. The menopause-transition study requires the right bleeding pattern, reproductive anatomy, technology access, and travel to one of three sites.

That is a lot. It can also provide structured monitoring and information you might value. Both things are true. Go in knowing which procedures you are willing to do—and which are a hard no.

Not sure whether research or regular treatment is your right next step?
The questions that decide it—your symptoms, age, uterus status, risk history, current medication, insurance, state, and timeline—are the same questions a good care plan starts with.
Get your personalized action plan →

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Can I join a menopause study if I am already on HRT?

Answer capsule: Sometimes. A protocol may allow your current treatment, require a stable dose, require a defined washout, prohibit one or more hormonal products, or say nothing publicly. Silence is not permission. Ask the study team about your exact product and never change a prescription—including estrogen, progesterone, vaginal estrogen, or testosterone—just to clear a screening rule.

The four current-HRT labels

Answer capsule: The tracker uses four labels because one “HRT allowed?” field would hide the decision. Continue allowed means the named therapy can stay. Stable regimen means timing matters. Washout or prohibited means a change may be required. Not stated means the public record cannot answer—and the study team must.

Tracker label	What the public protocol says	Your next move
Continue allowed	The named therapy is permitted during participation	Confirm that your exact product, route, and dose are covered.
Stable regimen required	Treatment may continue if you have not started, stopped, or changed it within a defined period	Ask how long “stable” means and whether dose changes count.
Washout or prohibited	The protocol requires a pause for a stated period or excludes the therapy	Ask which products are covered and the exact timing. Do not change treatment without the study team and your clinician.
Not stated	The public record does not answer the question	Ask. Do not assume yes or no.

The gap that catches almost everyone: “hormone therapy” can be vague

A protocol that says “no hormone therapy” may define systemic estrogen, progesterone, vaginal estrogen, hormonal contraception, and testosterone separately—or it may not publish the detail in the short record.

Prescription testosterone is not a casual exception. Testosterone is a Schedule III controlled substance in the United States, and its prescribing, dispensing, and study handling remain subject to controlled-substance requirements. Nothing on this page is a route around a prescription or a study protocol.

We have not found a reliable way to resolve every product from the public summary, and we will not pretend otherwise. Ask this exact question:

“Does your hormone-therapy exclusion cover systemic estrogen, progesterone, prescription testosterone, vaginal estrogen, and hormonal contraception—or only some of them?”

Vaginal estrogen may be handled differently from systemic therapy in some protocols, but the current tirzepatide trial is a useful warning against assuming that: its public criteria name vaginal estrogen among the exclusions. Ten seconds of clarity can save a failed screening visit.

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Will I get a placebo—and what are my real odds?

Answer capsule: Only some studies use a placebo, and the odds come from that protocol’s randomization ratio—not from a category average. OASIS 1 and 2 used 1:1 assignment for the first 12 weeks, so each group contained half the participants. OASIS 4 used 2:1, putting two-thirds in the elinzanetant group during the blinded period.

This is the fear nobody says out loud. So do the actual math in three parts.

Part one: your assignment odds

A 1:1 randomization is a 50% assignment chance to each arm. A 2:1 randomization means roughly two-thirds are assigned to one arm and one-third to the other. A three-arm trial may have two active doses and one placebo, but only the record or consent form can tell you the actual split.

Do not accept “most people get the drug” as an answer. Ask:

“What is the randomization ratio at this site, and what is my probability of each assignment?”

Part two: whether the placebo group later crosses over

This is the fact that changes the deal.

• OASIS 1 and 2: elinzanetant or placebo for 12 weeks; participants initially assigned to placebo then received elinzanetant for 14 more weeks.
• OASIS 4: elinzanetant for 52 weeks, or placebo for 12 weeks followed by elinzanetant for 40 weeks.

In those trials, the question was not only whether a participant would receive the active drug. It was when. That is not true of every study, so ask before treating crossover as a promise.

Part three: what placebo does—and does not mean

Placebo does not mean “no contact.” Participants may still receive study visits, symptom tracking, testing, and attention from the research team. It also does not mean guaranteed improvement, and it is not a hidden form of the active treatment.

You are not trading “drug versus nothing.” You are trading a defined period of uncertainty about assignment, with the procedures and monitoring in the protocol, against the certainty of whatever you have now.

That is a much better description than “lottery ticket.” It is a much worse description than “free access to the new drug.” Both of those framings are wrong.

The FDA’s Lynkuet Drug Trials Snapshot gives the OASIS 1 and 2 design and crossover timing. The peer-reviewed OASIS 4 report gives its 2:1 assignment and 12-week placebo period.

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Do menopause clinical trials pay you?

Answer capsule: Some studies pay participants, some reimburse travel or parking, some do both, and some publish no amount. Payment, reimbursement, study-covered procedures, and possible participant costs are different. FDA guidance says payment is common and generally acceptable, but it is not counted as a medical benefit; the IRB reviews the amount and schedule.

The four money questions

Answer capsule: Do not ask only, “How much does it pay?” Ask what the payment covers, how it is earned, whether travel is reimbursed, which study items are paid, and what can still be billed. A study can offer compensation and still leave ordinary-care, travel, or standard-of-care costs outside the research budget.

Term	What it means	What to ask
Compensation	Payment for time, inconvenience, discomfort, or participation tasks	How much? Paid per visit, per completed task, or only after a milestone? Is payment prorated if I leave?
Reimbursement	Repayment of costs such as mileage, parking, airfare, lodging, meals, or childcare	What is covered? Is preapproval required? What receipts do I need?
Study-covered item	A study drug, test, visit, device, or procedure the sponsor says it will pay for	Which exact items are covered, and only while I am in the study?
Possible participant cost	Anything not paid by the study that could be billed to you or your insurer	Will anything be billed to me or my insurer? What happens if insurance denies it?

A current example shows why “not stated” is better than a made-up number. UC San Diego’s SALI page says participants are compensated and that full compensation depends on completing study tasks on schedule. The public page does not publish the amount. The correct tracker entry is therefore: “Compensation stated; amount not public—ask the study team.”

The rule we follow, and you should too

Silence is not “unpaid.” If the official record does not mention compensation, it means the public record does not mention compensation. We never turn that silence into zero, and we never infer a dollar amount from another study.

The same discipline applies to cost. Do not assume that every scan, lab, procedure, medication, travel expense, or injury-related service is free because a study is “sponsored.” The consent form should explain what the study pays, what may be billed, whether compensation is prorated, and what treatment or payment is available if research injury occurs.

If a recruitment page leads with money before it gives you the study title, sponsor, institution, and NCT number, slow down. Federal guidance treats payment as an incentive for participation—not as a clinical benefit that makes risk acceptable. Read the protocol first. Decide whether the burden and uncertainty fit. Then make sure the compensation terms are in writing.

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Are menopause clinical trials safe—and who protects you?

Answer capsule: A ClinicalTrials.gov listing is not a government safety approval. In legitimate U.S. drug trials, an Institutional Review Board reviews the research and consent materials, and informed consent happens before study participation. That process lowers risk; it does not erase it. You can refuse or stop participation without losing benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.

Read the first sentence again, because a lot of trial marketing depends on people not knowing it.

ClinicalTrials.gov is a transparency registry. The sponsor or investigator supplies the study information. The registry’s own disclaimer says the U.S. government does not review or approve the safety and science of all studies listed there.

Real protection comes from several layers:

1. Independent ethics review. An IRB reviews the protocol, foreseeable risks, consent materials, participant selection, privacy protections, and payment arrangements under the rules that apply to the research.
2. Informed consent. This is a process, not a signature page. You should receive the purpose, procedures, duration, foreseeable risks and discomforts, possible benefits, alternatives, confidentiality terms, costs, compensation, injury information, contacts, and the voluntary nature of participation.
3. The right to refuse or withdraw. You may decline or discontinue participation without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. Already-collected data may still be retained or analyzed under the protocol and applicable rules, so ask what withdrawal changes—and what it does not.
4. Protocol monitoring. The sponsor, investigators, monitors, safety committees when used, regulators, and the IRB each have defined roles. Their existence does not guarantee that no harm will occur.

Some minimal-risk research can qualify for limited consent or documentation waivers under applicable rules. That is why this page does not claim that every U.S. study always requires a signed paper form before any contact. For the interventional drug trials discussed here, expect a formal informed-consent process before study-specific participation begins.

Real risk is real. Here is a real example.

Fezolinetant was already FDA-approved when a serious postmarketing safety signal emerged. FDA issued a drug-safety communication in September 2024 and added a boxed warning in December 2024 about rare but serious liver injury with Veozah. The current prescribing information requires liver blood tests before treatment, monthly for the first three months, and again at months six and nine.

We are not telling you that to scare you off. We are telling you because it is the honest picture: clinical development cannot reveal every uncommon risk before approval, and postmarketing surveillance can change the warning label later. Research participation means accepting known risks, procedural burdens, and unknowns described in that study’s consent form—not borrowing reassurance from a registry badge.

Read the FDA safety communication and the current prescribing information if a study involves fezolinetant.

Red flags—leave if you see these

• A fee to “unlock” a study or get matched.
• A guarantee that you will qualify or receive the active treatment.
• A promise of a cure or a specific result.
• Pressure to stop medication before speaking with the study team and your own clinician.
• Contact only through a social-media account with no named institution or sponsor.
• No NCT number for a study that claims to be registered on ClinicalTrials.gov.
• A compensation headline with no protocol, sponsor, institution, or written terms.
• A demand for your full medical record before anyone tells you what the study is and how your information will be used.
• Urgency that is not tied to a real site-closing or enrollment date.
• A consent process that will not let you ask questions or take time to decide.

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What should I ask before joining a menopause clinical trial?

Answer capsule: Ask the questions that expose the decision—not the ones that repeat the recruitment page. You need the official identifier, local status, treatment-change rules, randomization odds, visit burden, compensation, possible billing, injury terms, withdrawal consequences, and after-study access. Get the answers in the consent form or another written study document before enrolling.

Save or print this list before the first call.

1. What is the NCT number? Open the official record while you are speaking.
2. Is this exact site still enrolling? An overall “Recruiting” status does not guarantee a local opening.
3. What phase is the study, and what is the randomization ratio? Ask for your probability of each group in plain numbers.
4. Must I stop any current treatment? Ask for the exact washout period and who will supervise it.
5. Which products count under the restriction? Name systemic estrogen, progesterone, prescription testosterone, vaginal estrogen, hormonal contraception, fezolinetant, antidepressants, supplements, and every other treatment you use.
6. Is there a placebo, sham, usual-care, or no-treatment group? If so, ask whether and when that group crosses over.
7. How many visits are there, how long is the study, and how many visits must be in person? Ask about early-morning, overnight, weekend, imaging, and home-task requirements.
8. What compensation and reimbursement are offered? Ask for the amount, payment schedule, prorating, travel rules, and receipt requirements.
9. Will anything be billed to me or my insurer? Ask separately about screening tests, ordinary care, medication, travel, and care outside the research site.
10. What happens if I am injured because of the research? Ask what treatment is available and who pays for it.
11. What happens to my data and samples if I withdraw? Stopping visits does not necessarily remove data already collected.
12. Does access to the study drug stop when the study stops? Ask about open-label extensions, prescriptions after completion, and what happens if the product is not approved or not covered.

A seven-day count you can start before the call

Answer capsule: A one-week count turns “a lot” into a number you can compare with public entry gates. It does not replace the study’s diary, severity definitions, or screening. Record your real week without changing medication or habits to influence the result. The study team will tell you which episodes count and how to grade them.

Day	Moderate episodes	Severe episodes	Woke me at night	Daily total	What I was doing or taking
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Seven-day total

Do not change medication, caffeine, alcohol, exercise, room temperature, or sleep habits just to make this informal count look more or less severe. Record what your week actually looks like.

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What happens after you contact a study?

Answer capsule: Contact usually leads to a brief prescreen, a fuller eligibility review, an informed-consent discussion, and then any protocol-required screening. Contact is not enrollment, and a successful online form is not approval. You can ask questions, decline, or stop the process. Formal enrollment happens only after the study confirms eligibility and you choose to consent.

Here is the sequence so nothing surprises you.

1. First contact. Use the contact on the official record or the named institution’s website. Start with the NCT number and the one eligibility issue most likely to decide your fit.
2. Prescreen. Expect questions about age, menopause stage, symptoms, medications, diagnoses, location, and availability. Share only what is relevant after you know who is collecting it and why.
3. Consent discussion. The team explains the purpose, procedures, risks, possible benefits, alternatives, privacy terms, costs, payment, injury information, and voluntary nature of participation. Ask for time to read the form. Do not sign what you do not understand.
4. Formal screening. This may include records review, examination, questionnaires, labs, imaging, sleep testing, or a symptom diary. Passing a prescreen does not guarantee that these results will satisfy the protocol.
5. Enrollment and assignment. In a randomized study, a computer or centralized system assigns the group according to the protocol. Masking may mean you, the study team, or both do not know the assignment during part of the study.
6. Visits and monitoring. Follow the schedule in the consent form. Report symptoms and adverse events honestly; do not hide medication changes to stay enrolled.
7. Leaving or finishing. You may stop participation. Ask how to withdraw safely, what follow-up the team recommends, and what happens to data and samples already collected.
8. After the study. Ask before you start whether the intervention ends immediately, whether an extension exists, when results may be posted, and whether participants will be told what group they were in.

The last question is easy to ignore when a new treatment feels like the point of the whole exercise. It is unpleasant to discover at week 52 that access ends the next morning.

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Is a menopause clinical trial actually your best move right now?

Answer capsule: For many women reading this page, no. Trial sites cluster in a limited number of places, entry gates can be narrow, records can lag behind local enrollment, and research is built to answer a scientific question—not guarantee fast personal treatment. If your barrier is price, prescribing access, or insurance, ordinary care is usually the more direct route.

Time for the honest part.

This tracker will not help most of the people who read it. That is not modesty. It is arithmetic. The right study has to overlap with your location, age, menopause stage, symptom pattern, medication history, risk profile, schedule, and willingness to accept the study design. Even then, the site may have stopped enrolling before the registry catches up.

We would rather you know that in your first three minutes than after three weeks.

If cost is the real problem, run the access route before the research route

A trial is not a dependable workaround for the price of an approved treatment. It may test a different intervention, require medication washout, include placebo, or end access when the protocol ends.

For Veozah, the manufacturer’s current savings page says eligible commercially insured patients may pay $0 for the first 30-day prescription and as little as $30 per monthly refill, subject to eligibility, terms, and a $4,000 annual maximum copay-assistance limit. The card is not valid for prescriptions reimbursed by government programs such as Medicare or Medicaid. Those are manufacturer program terms—not a retail cash-price claim and not a promise that your plan will approve the drug.

The gap between a high pharmacy quote and an eligible savings-card price may be an insurance and prior-authorization problem. Not a clinical-trial problem. Check the formulary, the manufacturer program, and the denial or exception route before volunteering for months of research because of one price at the counter.

See what HRT and menopause care actually cost in 2026 and the official Veozah Savings & Support terms.

Find yourself here

Answer capsule: Your bottleneck decides the route. Cost and prescribing access usually point to ordinary care. Failed or unsuitable approved options make a trial more rational. Vaginal and urinary symptoms need a different evidence path. Immediate relief and research timelines rarely fit. Use the row that matches your actual obstacle—not the one that sounds most advanced.

If this is you	The faster next move
Cost is the barrier	Check insurance coverage, the manufacturer’s legitimate assistance program, lower-cost FDA-approved options that a clinician considers appropriate, and the plan’s exception or appeal route. Start with the 2026 HRT cost guide.
Your clinician will not discuss menopause treatment	Get a second clinical opinion rather than using a trial as a substitute for ordinary evaluation. Compare online menopause and HRT care models.
Approved options have failed or are not appropriate	You are who trials are for. Go back to the tracker and filter by the symptom and treatment constraints that matter most.
Your symptoms are vaginal or urinary, not hot flashes	Use the vaginal estrogen and GSM guide first. The treatment path is different, and the U.S. recruiting pipeline is thinner.
You want the newest intervention specifically	Read the pipeline below, then separate approved treatment, approved drug studied for a new use, early-phase candidate, and closed study.
You need relief in the next two weeks	A research timeline is a poor fit. Seek ordinary clinical care and use the non-hormonal treatment guide when hormones are not your chosen or appropriate route.

If what you actually need is a prescriber

Answer capsule: Two current care routes illustrate the trade-off. Midi uses insurance or self-pay scheduled visits; Sesame offers a $59-per-month menopause subscription and separate pay-per-visit marketplace care. Neither guarantees a prescription, neither listed price is automatically the full medication cost, and the right route still depends on your state, plan, history, and treatment preference.

Care route	Provider-stated facts verified September 3, 2026	The decision that matters
Midi Health	Available in all 50 states and in network with most PPO plans, but exact coverage and cost vary by plan and state. Self-pay is $250 for the first visit and $150 for a follow-up, with no membership fee. Medicare is out of network; Medicare beneficiaries may self-pay but cannot submit claims related to Midi visits, medications, or associated services. Midi says it cannot treat Medicaid or Medi-Cal patients, even as self-pay. Prescriptions and labs are not represented here as included in the visit price.	Start only after checking your exact plan. Skip it if you need Medicaid or Medi-Cal access, Medicare-covered visits, or the lowest cash visit price.
Sesame	Its provider marketplace has licensed clinicians in all 50 states. Its menopause subscription currently displays $59 per month and says basic lab work is included when necessary; medication cost is separate. Sesame also offers pay-per-visit care without requiring a membership. Its August 11, 2026 terms say a recurring membership must be canceled at least 48 hours before renewal to prevent the next charge; the current term is not prorated. Exact menopause-provider availability is shown at booking.	Decide whether you are buying the menopause subscription or a separate marketplace visit. “Sesame has pay-per-visit care” does not mean every menopause route has no recurring commitment.

This is not a claim that either route will prescribe a specific medication. A licensed clinician decides whether a prescription is appropriate, and final access depends on the service, state, pharmacy, and medical history.

We are not routing this clinical-trials page toward a compounded medication as though it were the same thing as an FDA-approved finished drug. Compounded drugs are not FDA-approved, and FDA does not verify their safety, effectiveness, or quality before marketing. They can meet a patient-specific medical need in defined circumstances, but they are not interchangeable with FDA-approved drugs and are not presented as equivalent in formulation, approval status, quality controls, safety, effectiveness, or expected clinical result.

Does ordinary care sound closer to what you actually need?
Compare online menopause providers by insurance, medication model, and access →

Affiliate disclosure: The HRT Index may earn a commission from some provider links at no extra cost to you. Commercial relationships do not buy inclusion or editorial conclusions. See the Affiliate Disclosure.

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What is in the menopause drug pipeline after Veozah and Lynkuet?

Answer capsule: The FDA has approved two non-hormonal neurokinin medicines for moderate-to-severe menopausal vasomotor symptoms: Veozah in May 2023 and Lynkuet on October 24, 2025. The current research picture is narrower than the headlines: approved-drug expansion studies, repurposed medicines, behavioral trials, and early-phase candidates—not a guaranteed third approval waiting around the corner.

First, the labels matter.

• FDA-approved for menopause vasomotor symptoms means FDA reviewed a specific finished drug, dose, population, manufacturing process, and evidence package for that indication.
• Approved drug studied for a new use means the drug is approved for something else, but the new menopause use remains investigational.
• Investigational candidate means the product is not FDA-approved for routine treatment.
• Active, not recruiting means research is still running but nobody new can join.

The pipeline reality check

Answer capsule: The verified pipeline spans four different categories that should never be collapsed into “new menopause drugs.” Veozah and Lynkuet are approved. Tirzepatide is approved for other indications but investigational for hot flashes. HIGHLIGHT 1 studies approved fezolinetant in a new population. ABCL635 remains an early-phase investigational candidate and is currently closed to enrollment.

Product or study	Regulatory and enrollment status	What it actually adds	What it does not mean
Veozah (fezolinetant)	FDA-approved May 12, 2023 for moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms due to menopause	A non-hormonal NK3-receptor antagonist	It is not hormone therapy, and approval does not remove the current boxed liver-warning and monitoring requirements.
Lynkuet (elinzanetant)	FDA-approved October 24, 2025 for moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms due to menopause	A non-hormonal NK1/NK3-receptor antagonist. The usual labeled dose is 120 mg—two 60 mg capsules—once daily at bedtime	“60 mg capsule” is the capsule strength, not the usual total daily dose. The label includes dose modification for certain drug interactions.
Tirzepatide hot-flash study (NCT07218445)	Phase 4, recruiting in Jacksonville	Tests an approved metabolic drug for a new menopause-related use in postmenopausal women with obesity or qualifying overweight	Tirzepatide is not FDA-approved to treat menopausal hot flashes. Participation is research, not off-label proof.
HIGHLIGHT 1 (NCT06440967)	Phase 3, active not recruiting	Tests approved fezolinetant for hot flashes in women receiving breast-cancer endocrine therapy	It is not open to new participants, and the original Veozah approval does not establish results in this specific population.
ABCL635 (NCT07118891)	Phase 1/2, active not recruiting	An injectable investigational approach with a different delivery route	It is not approved, not currently recruiting, and not evidence of near-term availability.

Both approved medicines act on neurokinin signaling involved in thermoregulation; neither contains estrogen or progesterone. Fezolinetant targets NK3. Elinzanetant targets NK1 and NK3. That mechanism can make the class relevant to women who do not use estrogen, but it does not make either drug appropriate for every person or eliminate prescription screening and label-specific risks.

The FDA’s pivotal-trial summary for Lynkuet says OASIS 1 and 2 randomized 796 postmenopausal participants who reported at least 50 moderate-to-severe hot flashes per week. The usual dose in the current label is 120 mg at bedtime; 60 mg is the strength of each capsule, not the usual total daily dose.

And the honest limitation of the pipeline: the drug-development part of this verified snapshot is still dominated by hot flashes. Sleep, mood, cognition, joint symptoms, and vaginal or urinary symptoms appear in research, but the visible late-stage drug pipeline is not balanced across everything women report as disruptive.

Why there are no participant testimonials here

There are no participant quotes on this page because we did not identify a current, attributable, permissioned account that could be used without implying that one person’s experience predicts efficacy or safety. Sponsor executives and investigators are sources for protocol and approval facts. They are not substitute patients, and their approval-day quotes are not independent evidence.

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Why is menopause research still this thin?

Answer capsule: The shortage is structural, not personal. A National Academies analysis found that women’s-health research averaged 8.8% of NIH grant funding from 2013 through 2023 and fell from 9.7% to 7.9% over that period. NIH held a three-day menopause-transition evidence workshop in April 2026 to identify gaps and future research priorities.

If you have ever thought, Why does nobody know anything about this? you were not imagining it.

A 2025 National Academies report found that women’s-health research accounted for an average 8.8% of NIH grant funding from 2013 to 2023, while the share declined from 9.7% in 2013 to 7.9% in 2023 even as total NIH grant funding grew. The report also found that research is often organized around organs or diseases rather than life stages such as menopause, making the true investment harder to see and easier to neglect.

NIH’s Office of Disease Prevention then held its Pathways to Prevention workshop, “Advancing Research to Improve Health During the Menopausal Transition,” on April 15–17, 2026. The workshop addressed the evidence on health effects during the transition, prevention and treatment options, disparities, research design, and the gaps most likely to change future care. As of September 3, 2026, the NIH workshop page still said the independent panel report would be posted for public comment “in the coming weeks”; no report link was posted there.

That does not make every small trial profound. It explains why the shortage you are experiencing is structural.

You are not late. The field is.

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Why does this menopause clinical trials tracker show a different total?

Answer capsule: Different trackers are answering different questions. One may count any record mentioning “postmenopausal,” another only studies where menopause is central, and another may mix recruiting, invitation-only, active-closed, and completed records. Geography, synonyms, site-level status, and stale sponsor updates change the number again. A total without inclusion rules is not comparable.

A directory count is useful only when the platform names its search terms, geography, status rules, and update date. We do not publish anonymous competitor totals here because those numbers become stale quickly and cannot be compared without reproducible inclusion rules.

The rules behind this menopause clinical trials tracker

We include a record in the core menopause view when at least one of these is true:

• menopause, perimenopause, postmenopause, the menopausal transition, hot flashes, night sweats, or vasomotor symptoms is a named condition;
• the main objective directly studies menopause or a menopause symptom;
• the eligible population is specifically peri- or postmenopausal; or
• menopausal hormone therapy is the intervention or a central exposure.

We exclude a record from the open view when:

• “postmenopausal” is incidental to a different disease question;
• the overall or relevant site status is completed, terminated, withdrawn, suspended, or active not recruiting;
• no current location can be identified;
• the record is invitation-only and a public reader cannot reasonably enter the invited cohort;
• the public sources conflict and the conflict cannot be resolved; or
• the study is outside the selected geography.

We preserve invitation-only and closed studies in separate views when they answer a real question about the pipeline or study design. We do not relabel them as open.

The one rule that does the most work: we never fill an empty field. If the public record does not state the HRT rule, compensation, visit model, or remote status, the cell says “Not stated—ask the study team.” Blank cells become guesses. Guesses become bad decisions.

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What did The HRT Index verify for this page?

Answer capsule: We checked official NCT records, current institutional participant pages, recruitment status, locations, ages, intervention type, published entry gates, placebo design, FDA approval and labeling, provider prices and policies, and dated research-funding sources. We did not decide anyone’s eligibility, promise a local opening, infer compensation, or treat a missing public field as permission.

Checked September 2026

• Official NCT identifiers and direct registry links for every named study.
• Current overall status and, where a primary institutional page was available, local enrollment language.
• Publicly stated ages, locations, intervention type, phase, visit model, and medication rules.
• The 28-, 50-, 35-, and 20-per-week symptom gates used in the named current or completed studies.
• OASIS randomization and crossover design from FDA and peer-reviewed sources.
• FDA approval dates and current labeling for Veozah and Lynkuet.
• Veozah’s current manufacturer savings terms, without converting them into a cash-price claim.
• Midi and Sesame pricing, insurance, state-availability, lab, and cancellation language from their current public pages and terms.
• Women’s-health funding figures from the National Academies and workshop dates from NIH.

Not claimed

• That you personally qualify.
• That a specific site still has an open slot after the verification date.
• That the study is medically appropriate for you.
• A washout period the public protocol does not publish.
• Compensation, reimbursement, remote access, or participant cost when the source is silent.
• That study participation provides free ordinary medical care.
• That an investigational treatment works or will be approved.
• That an FDA-approved drug is approved for a new use merely because a trial is testing it.

The HRT Index Verification Standard

For this tracker, The HRT Index Verification Standard means every consequential claim is evaluated through the same five pillars, in this order: clinical legitimacy, care quality, medication fit, price transparency, and access.

• Clinical legitimacy: official registry record, named sponsor or institution, valid status, and regulatory category stated accurately.
• Care quality: consent, monitoring, participant rights, burden, and after-study questions surfaced rather than buried.
• Medication fit: current-treatment restrictions, controlled-substance rules, placebo design, and approved-versus-investigational status kept separate.
• Price transparency: compensation, reimbursement, study-covered items, possible billing, provider prices, and assistance-program terms never collapsed into one number.
• Access: site status, geography, remote versus hybrid participation, insurance model, state availability, and invitation-only limits stated plainly.

The tracker refreshes registry status data daily and displays the source timestamp. Human annotations—HRT rules, entry gates, visit burden, and payment language—are rechecked monthly. Drug labeling, provider pricing, and policy terms are rechecked quarterly and after a known material change. The visible “Last verified” date changes only after a real review.

How this page is funded: The HRT Index is not paid by trial sponsors, research sites, or recruitment companies for inclusion here. The site may earn commissions from some telehealth provider links. Those relationships are described in the Affiliate Disclosure and do not turn provider claims into verified medical outcomes.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I find a menopause clinical trial near me?

Start with the tracker and enter your ZIP and distance, then filter by symptom and study type. Open the official NCT record, check the location nearest you, and contact that site directly. Ask whether the specific site is still enrolling before discussing travel, medication changes, or screening dates.

Do menopause clinical trials pay participants?

Some do. Some reimburse expenses, some offer both, and some public pages state no amount. Ask for the compensation schedule, travel reimbursement, prorating if you leave, and any possible billing. Do not infer “unpaid” from a silent record or assume every research-related service is free.

Can I join if I already use HRT?

Sometimes. The protocol may allow continued treatment, require a stable regimen, require a washout, prohibit named products, or say nothing publicly. Ask about your exact route and product. Never stop systemic estrogen, progesterone, vaginal estrogen, prescription testosterone, or another prescribed medicine just to clear a research screen.

How many hot flashes do I need to qualify?

It varies. The current tirzepatide study uses at least 28 bothersome episodes a week. OASIS 1 and 2 used at least 50 moderate-to-severe episodes a week; OASIS 4 used 35; NIRVANA used 20 plus objective sleep disturbance. One rejection says nothing about a different protocol.

Will I get a placebo?

Only if the protocol includes one. Ask for the randomization ratio, who is masked, how long the blinded period lasts, and whether the placebo group later receives active treatment. OASIS 1 and 2 used 1:1 assignment for 12 weeks; OASIS 4 used 2:1.

Are menopause clinical trials safe?

No study is risk-free, and a ClinicalTrials.gov listing is not a government safety endorsement. Legitimate U.S. drug trials use IRB review and informed consent under applicable rules, but those protections do not eliminate known or unknown risks. Read the consent form and ask who to contact for urgent research-related problems.

Do I need insurance to join?

Not always, but do not assume “no insurance required” means every cost is covered. Ask which procedures, medications, travel, and ordinary-care services the study pays for; what may be billed to you or your insurer; and what happens if insurance denies a standard-of-care item.

How long does a menopause clinical trial last?

Anything from weeks to more than a year. SALI is about 4½ months. HeART is 16 weeks. OASIS 4 uses a 52-week treatment period. The visit schedule can matter more than the calendar length, especially when there are overnight tests, repeated imaging, or frequent diaries.

Do I need a referral from my doctor?

Often no: a public recruiting record usually lists a study contact you can approach directly. Invitation-only studies are different, and some health-system studies recruit from an existing patient population. Your clinician may still be important if the protocol would change medication or interact with your ordinary care.

Can I quit after I enroll?

You can stop participation without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. Ask the safest way to stop, whether follow-up is recommended, and what happens to data and samples already collected. Withdrawal from future visits does not automatically erase information already obtained.

Are there trials for vaginal dryness, painful sex, or urinary symptoms?

Yes, but the current U.S. open-study snapshot on this page is dominated by vasomotor, mood, cardiovascular, metabolic, and exercise questions. Search terms for genitourinary syndrome of menopause, vaginal dryness, dyspareunia, vulvovaginal atrophy, and urinary symptoms can uncover different records. Check the vaginal estrogen guide for ordinary-care context.

Are there remote or online menopause studies?

Some are remote or home-based; some are hybrid; many still require travel. SALI is home-based but limited to San Diego County. A remote prescreen is not proof that the study itself is remote. The tracker uses “Remote” only when the public source states that participation can be completed remotely.

What is the difference between an observational study and an interventional trial?

An interventional study assigns a drug, device, procedure, diet, exercise plan, light exposure, or other strategy. An observational study measures participants without assigning the exposure being studied, though it can still involve tests or visits. “Observational” does not automatically mean no burden or no risk.

What new menopause medicines are coming after Veozah and Lynkuet?

The verified records here do not support promising a near-term third approval. Current work includes approved medicines studied in new populations, an approved metabolic drug studied for hot flashes, and early-phase candidates such as ABCL635. A trial phase or press release is not an approval timetable.

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Sources

1. ClinicalTrials.gov protocol registration data element definitions and site disclaimer.
2. Official study records: NCT07218445, NCT06975111, NCT06678880, NCT05193968, NCT07022340, NCT07118891, NCT06440967, NCT05587296, NCT06112756, and NCT06192329.
3. Mayo Clinic, Tirzepatide for Vasomotor Symptoms and Biological Aging in Menopausal Women, eligibility updated July 23, 2026.
4. UC San Diego, Sleep and Light Intervention for Menopausal Mood Dysfunction, updated August 3, 2026.
5. Mayo Clinic, Hot Flashes and Neurovascular Function in Women.
6. University of Michigan School of Kinesiology, Hemodynamics after Resistance Training.
7. FDA, Drug Trials Snapshot: Lynkuet, and DailyMed, Lynkuet prescribing information, revised August 2026.
8. FDA, Veozah approval announcement and Veozah liver-injury safety communication.
9. Cardozo L, et al. Elinzanetant for vasomotor symptoms associated with endocrine therapy for breast cancer: OASIS 4. New England Journal of Medicine. 2025.
10. Baker FC, et al. Elinzanetant in postmenopausal women with sleep disturbance: the randomized phase 2 NIRVANA study. Sleep. 2026.
11. FDA, Payment and reimbursement to research subjects, and HHS Office for Human Research Protections, Guidance on withdrawal of subjects from research.
12. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR § 1308.13—Schedule III.
13. FDA, Compounding and the FDA: questions and answers.
14. Astellas, Veozah Savings & Support, checked September 3, 2026.
15. Midi Health, Pricing and insurance, checked September 3, 2026.
16. Sesame, Menopause treatment, pay-per-visit care, and Terms of Service, updated August 11, 2026.
17. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, A New Vision for Women’s Health Research: Transformative Change at the National Institutes of Health. 2025.
18. NIH Office of Disease Prevention, Advancing Research to Improve Health During the Menopausal Transition, April 15–17, 2026.
19. The HRT Index, Affiliate Disclosure, Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy, and Editorial Team.

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