Graves' disease is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism in the United States, affecting about 1 in 200 people. Current treatments — antithyroid drugs, radioactive iodine, or surgery — all work by reducing or eliminating thyroid function, often leaving people dependent on lifelong thyroid hormone replacement.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing drugs that target the immune attack itself, including monoclonal antibodies and small molecules that may stop the disease without destroying the thyroid. Researchers are also studying treatments for thyroid eye disease, which affects about one-third of people with Graves' disease and can progress even after thyroid levels normalize.
Immune-targeting therapies
Several drugs aim to block the antibodies that drive Graves' disease, potentially allowing the thyroid to recover instead of being destroyed. Early trials suggest some people may achieve remission without permanent hypothyroidism.
Thyroid eye disease treatments
Teprotumumab, an IGF-1 receptor antibody, was FDA-approved in 2020 for thyroid eye disease and reduces eye bulging in many patients. Additional drugs targeting the same pathway are now in trials.
What to know before you search
Eligibility typically depends on disease activity, thyroid hormone levels, presence of eye disease, and whether you've tried antithyroid drugs before.
What types of trials are currently open
- Immune therapy trials — Testing antibodies or small molecules that target the immune system's attack on the thyroid, aiming to induce remission without destroying the gland.
- Thyroid eye disease trials — Studies of drugs that reduce eye inflammation, bulging, and double vision in people with active thyroid eye disease.
- Combination therapy trials — Testing whether adding an immune drug to standard antithyroid medication improves remission rates compared to antithyroid drugs alone.
- Biomarker studies — Research tracking antibody levels and other markers to predict who will achieve remission and who may need more aggressive treatment.
Recently added Graves' Disease trials
Take a targeted therapy being tested for thyroid eye disease
The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of linsitinib in participants with moderate to severe Thyroid Eye Disease (TED).
Take an experimental immune therapy to treat overactive thyroid disease
In this study, researchers will learn more about the use of felzartamab in participants with Graves' Disease, also known as GD. GD is an autoimmune disease, which means the body's immune system attacks its own healthy cells. In people with GD, the immune system produces abnormal antibodies, called thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antibodies (TRAb), that attack the thyroid gland. This causes the thyroid to become too active and produce too much hormone, a condition called hyperthyroidism. Participants with GD are often treated with anti-thyroid drugs, or ATDs, which are medicines that help bring thyroid hormone levels back to normal. Felzartamab is designed to target certain immune cells that produce the abnormal TRAb antibodies. The main goal of the study is to learn whether felzartamab can help bring thyroid hormone levels back to normal and allow participants to stop taking ATDs. Participants will receive either felzartamab or placebo during the study. A placebo looks like the study drug but contains no real medicine. The main question that researchers want to answer is: • How many participants have normal thyroid levels without receiving any ATD medicine at Week 24? Researchers will also learn more about the safety of felzartamab and how the body processes the drug. The study will be done as follows: * Participants will be screened to check if they can join the study. * This is a double-blind study, which means neither the participants, study doctor, or site staff will know if participants are receiving felzartamab or a placebo. * Participants will be placed into 1 of 3 groups. Two groups will receive felzartamab while the other receives placebo. * Participants will receive felzartamab or placebo as intravenous (IV) infusions, which are slow injections into a vein using a needle. The Treatment Period will last 20 weeks. * During the Treatment Period, the study doctor may gradually lower the dose of the ATD if a participant's thyroid levels become normal. * Afterwards, participants will enter a follow-up period which will last 12 weeks. * In total, participants will have 22 study visits. Participants will stay in the study for about 9 months (up to 36 weeks).
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