preclinical
adjective
pre·clin·i·cal
(ˌ)prē-ˈkli-ni-kəl 
1
: of, relating to, or concerned with the period preceding clinical manifestations
2
: of, relating to, or being the period in medical or dental education preceding the clinical study of medicine or dentistry
3
: occurring prior to clinical testing
a preclinical animal study of a new therapy
Examples of preclinical in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But those preclinical studies uncovered how T cells, specialized white blood cells that are programmed to recognize and exterminate threats like cancer, are more active in the morning.
—
Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 6 Feb. 2026
In preclinical studies, ER-100 was delivered directly into the eye through intravitreal injection.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 4 Feb. 2026
Sinclair laid the foundation for his work using mice in preclinical trials, Life Biosciences then licensed the technology from Harvard and Sinclair’s lab to test on non-human primates to better match the human eye’s anatomy.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 30 Jan. 2026
After preclinical trials, there’s a human trial that’s smaller than the ones required for drugs, followed by a feasibility trial to confirm the device works as intended.
—Ana Castelain, Bloomberg, 28 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for preclinical
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Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 6 Feb. 2026
In preclinical studies, ER-100 was delivered directly into the eye through intravitreal injection.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 4 Feb. 2026
Sinclair laid the foundation for his work using mice in preclinical trials, Life Biosciences then licensed the technology from Harvard and Sinclair’s lab to test on non-human primates to better match the human eye’s anatomy.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 30 Jan. 2026
After preclinical trials, there’s a human trial that’s smaller than the ones required for drugs, followed by a feasibility trial to confirm the device works as intended.
—Ana Castelain, Bloomberg, 28 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for preclinical
Cite this Entry
“Preclinical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preclinical. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
preclinical
adjective
pre·clin·i·cal
(ˈ)prē-ˈklin-i-kəl
1
a
: of, relating to, concerned with, or being the period preceding clinical manifestations
the preclinical stage of diabetes mellitus
b
: occurring prior to a clinical trial
preclinical animal testing to assess a drug's safety
2
: of, relating to, or being the period in medical or dental education preceding the clinical study of medicine or dentistry
the preclinical years
specifically
: of or relating to the early period of prescribed medical or dental study devoted to the basic sciences (as anatomy, physiology, and pathology)
preclinical studies
3
: of, relating to, or being a science basic to medicine
research in the preclinical sciences
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