The COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated intense efforts to find effective therapeutics for all stages of the disease. Unfortunately, the scope, scientific rigour and clinical value of research activities undertaken worldwide have been difficult to gauge, especially amid the rapidly evolving landscape. From the very beginning of the search for effective preventive and therapeutic agents, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been committed to helping to identify and develop evidence-based therapeutics through well-designed clinical trials. It is critically important to protect patients from inefficacious or unsafe drugs while advancing those evidence-based efforts efficiently — without duplication or otherwise wasting resources — to bring effective interventions to patients. To inform such efforts, the FDA has sought a comprehensive understanding of the global COVID-19 clinical trials landscape. Here, we present our assessment of ongoing COVID-19 therapeutic clinical development efforts worldwide.