New Treatments & Clinical Trials for Diabetic Neuropathy

Diabetic neuropathy affects about half of all people with diabetes over time, causing numbness, pain, or weakness in the feet and hands. Current treatment focuses on blood sugar control and pain management with medications like gabapentin or duloxetine. No approved drugs repair or reverse nerve damage, making this a major area of unmet need.

What's actually going on in research

Trials are testing nerve growth factors, anti-NGF antibodies for pain, sodium channel blockers, drugs targeting metabolic pathways that damage nerves, and devices that stimulate nerves electrically. Some studies look at whether tighter glucose control or newer diabetes drugs like GLP-1 agonists can slow progression. Researchers are also studying biomarkers to predict who will develop severe neuropathy.

What to know before you search

Eligibility typically depends on diabetes duration, current neuropathy severity measured by symptom scores or nerve testing, recent blood sugar control, and absence of other causes of nerve damage.

What types of trials are currently open

• Pain management trials — Testing new medications or drug combinations to reduce neuropathic pain, often comparing them to gabapentin or duloxetine.
• Disease-modifying trials — Testing drugs that aim to stop nerve damage from progressing or promote nerve repair, measured by nerve conduction studies and symptom scores.
• Device trials — Testing electrical stimulation devices worn on the legs or feet to reduce pain or improve sensation.
• Prevention trials — Testing whether specific diabetes medications or intensive glucose control can prevent neuropathy in people at high risk.
• Natural history studies — Following people with diabetes to understand how neuropathy develops and what factors predict severe complications like foot ulcers.