precision medicine

noun

plural precision medicines

: a branch of medicine concerned with developing therapies targeted to individuals or particular groups based on their unique genetic, molecular, or phenotypic characteristics

Pharmacogenomics is an emerging field at the heart of precision medicine that uses a person's genetic information to help guide drug selection and dose.

—Charis Eng et al.

Although precision medicine might make sense for people with certain conditions that are difficult and expensive to treat, such as autoimmune diseases, critics argue that on the whole, simpler approaches to treating disease are better because they cost less and benefit far more patients.

—Jeneen Interlandi

also : a therapy developed in this manner

The company's immediate focus is to build a registry that will collect the genetic data of kidney disease patients and use it to discover mutations and molecular drivers of the disease that can be treated with precision medicines.

—Robert Weisman

called also personalized medicine

Examples of precision medicine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Over the past decade, precision medicine has evolved from merely creating personalized treatment plans and delivery methods to being integral throughout the entire drug development process. —Raviv Pryluk and Mike Walsh, STAT, 12 July 2024

The health-care payment software vendor Waystar and the precision medicine company Tempus AI went public in June, while the pregnancy monitoring company Nuvo went public via SPAC in May. —Annika Kim Constantino,ashley Capoot, CNBC, 11 July 2024

Birmingham is able to solve critical challenges and lead the nation and world in accessible precision medicine, accelerated drug discovery and commercialization, and improved health outcomes—all while securing our domestic supply chain and reducing reliance on foreign adversaries. —Randall Woodfin, Fortune, 3 July 2024

These are the critical tools in developing more advanced precision medicine in an increasingly complex international market. —Meghana Keshavan, STAT, 28 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1992, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

precision medicine

noun

: a branch of medicine concerned with developing therapies targeted to individuals or particular groups based on their unique genetic, molecular, or phenotypic characteristics

also : a therapy developed in this manner

More than one-quarter (27%) of all new approvals are precision medicines. They rely on biomarker and genetic data to identify a far more targeted patient subpopulation that has a much higher likelihood of responding to a new treatment safely and effectively.

—Ken Getz, Applied Clinical Trials

called also personalized medicine