Why this matters
When a trial finishes and nobody shares the results, we lose information that already exists. People took part, often for months. Money was spent. And the results that stay hidden are more often the disappointing ones. That makes treatments look better than they are.
On ClinicalTrials.gov, the main US trial registry, we counted on 9 November 2026 768 registered treatment studies for social anxiety disorder. 471 were marked as finished. Only 85 of those had posted results. That is about 1 in 5.
A missing registry result does not always mean nothing is public. Some teams publish in a journal and never update the registry. The oVRcome trial below is an example. But for new drugs especially, a press release is often all there is.
Trials we are watching
All dates and statuses below come from ClinicalTrials.gov, checked on 9 November 2026. “Finished” is the date the registry gives for the end of the study. “Results posted” means results on the registry itself.
New medicines
| Registry ID | What was tested | People | Finished | Status and results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCT05600114 | CBD against placebo, run by EmpowerPharm (US) | 239 | 13 Dec 2023 | Completed. No results posted. The company announced in 2024 a benefit in a subgroup, without numbers. |
| NCT05571592 | CBD against placebo, NYU Langone, New York | 60 | 3 Dec 2025 | Completed. No results posted. |
| NCT05138068 | MDMA-assisted therapy (SAMATI), Portland, Oregon | 90 listed | 12 Aug 2025 | Completed. No results posted on the registry, but published in a journal in November 2026. The paper reports 20 people randomized, while the registry lists 90. |
| NCT06358651 | Fasedienol nasal spray against placebo (PALISADE-3) | 238 | 13 Jul 2026 | Completed. No results posted. The main result, announced in December 2025, was no clear benefit. |
| NCT06615557 | Fasedienol nasal spray against placebo (PALISADE-4) | 238 | 14 Jul 2026 | Completed. No results posted. The company announced in 2026 that it missed its main goal. |
| NCT06809179 | Fasedienol, repeated doses, against placebo | 61 | 26 Aug 2026 | Completed. No results posted. |
Virtual reality and digital tools
| Registry ID | What was tested | People | Finished | Status and results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCT05576259 | oVRcome phone-based VR app against waiting, New Zealand | 100 listed | 1 Nov 2023 | Completed. No results posted on the registry, but published in a journal in 2024. The paper reports 126 people randomized, while the registry lists 100. |
| NCT03973541 | CBT with VR exposure against CBT with real-life exposure, Denmark | 51 | 26 Oct 2022 | Completed. No results posted. |
| NCT05302518 | CBT with VR exposure guided by heart rate and skin response (VR8), Denmark | 80 | 4 Jan 2025 | Completed. No results posted. |
| NCT03845101 | CBT with or without VR exposure, for social anxiety and agoraphobia (SoREAL), Copenhagen | 302 planned | Apr 2024 (planned) | Status unknown. The record was last confirmed in March 2023. |
| NCT05704868 | VR-based CBT for university students (UniVRse), UK | 90 planned | Jul 2024 (planned) | Status unknown. No results posted. |
| NCT07533812 | AI-assisted therapy by smartphone (STePS-Ai), Stockholm | 90 planned | 1 Jul 2026 (planned) | Active, no longer recruiting. No results posted. |
For the Danish and UK VR trials, we did not search every journal. Some of them may have published papers that are not linked from the registry.
Not finished yet
- AI chatbot for teenagers. A Chinese trial (NCT07897084) of an AI CBT chatbot for teenagers with social anxiety plans 120 people. It was not yet recruiting on 9 November 2026, with a planned end in December 2026.
- Psilocybin. No psilocybin trial for social anxiety was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov when the registry was searched in November 2026.
A good example
Posting results is possible even when the news is not exciting. A US company trial of a home VR program, BVR-100, finished in January 2024 and posted its results on the registry in March 2025. The results were about whether people found the program believable, not about symptoms, which is useful to know too.
What you can do
- When you read a news story about a new treatment, look for a registry number (it starts with NCT in the US). Search it on ClinicalTrials.gov and check whether results are posted.
- Treat press releases with care. A company announcing “positive results in a subgroup” without numbers is not the same as a published trial.
- If you take part in a trial, you can ask the team how and when they will share the results.
See what we don’t know for the bigger gaps in social anxiety research, and the VR guide for how to judge new products.
Sources
- ClinicalTrials.gov API query by researcher (2026). Interventional studies with condition 'social anxiety disorder': counts by status and results.ClinicalTrials.gov API v2.
- EmpowerPharm Inc. (2023). Cannabidiol (CBD) for the Treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder (NCT05600114).ClinicalTrials.gov.
- EmpowerPharm (press release, trade coverage) (2024). EmpowerPharm announces Phase 2 trial results for CBD in social anxiety disorder.Clinical Trials Arena / PharmOutsourcing.
- NYU Langone Health (2025). Cannabidiol as a Treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder (R61) (NCT05571592).ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Luoma JB (Portland Psychotherapy) (2025). Social Anxiety MDMA-Assisted Therapy Investigation (SAMATI) (NCT05138068).ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Psychiatric Times (2025). Fasedienol for social anxiety disorder does not demonstrate significant improvement in phase 3 study.Psychiatric Times.
- Vistagen (press release) (2026). Vistagen announces topline and post-hoc data from PALISADE-4 Phase 3 public speaking challenge study.BusinessWire.
- Lacey C (University of Otago) (2022). oVRcome - Self Guided Virtual Reality for Social Anxiety Disorder.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05576259.
- Lacey C, Frampton C, Beaglehole B (2024). A self-guided virtual reality solution for social anxiety: Results from a randomized controlled study.Journal of Psychiatric Research.
- Sumitomo Pharma America; BehaVR LLC (2024). BVR-100 and BES-100 Validation Trial: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Parallel-Group, Controlled Study of Two At-Home Self-Guided Virtual Reality Interventions for Adults With Social Anxiety Disorder.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06037668 (results posted).
- Stockholm University (2025). AI-Assisted 4-Week Psychodynamic Therapy and CBT Via Smartphone for Social Anxiety: A Randomized Pilot Study (STePS-Ai) (NCT07533812).ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Central China Normal University (2026). AI-Based CBT Chatbot for Adolescent Social Anxiety (NCT07897084).ClinicalTrials.gov.
- ClinicalTrials.gov search: social anxiety disorder
- ClinicalTrials.gov: PALISADE-3 (NCT06358651)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: PALISADE-4 (NCT06615557)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: fasedienol repeat-dose trial (NCT06809179)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: CBT with VR vs real-life exposure, Denmark (NCT03973541)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: VR8, Denmark (NCT05302518)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: SoREAL, Denmark (NCT03845101)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: UniVRse, UK (NCT05704868)