preclinical

adjective pre·clin·i·cal \ (ˌ)prē-ˈkli-ni-kəl \

Updated on: 13 Apr 2018

Definition of preclinical

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

Recent Examples of preclinical from the Web

To identify antigens that can be safely targeted in solid tumors, researchers conduct sophisticated preclinical studies, including cell cultures, animal tests, and computer analyses.

— marie mccullough, Philly.com, "Cracking the cancer code: Can immune therapy treat tumors?," 5 Apr. 2018
Mouse models of gene mutations with aspects in common between mice and humans can lead to new models of human disease, useful for drug screening, preclinical studies and better understanding of diseases and conditions, Jackson Lab said.

— stephen singer, courant.com, "Jackson Lab, Chinese University Settle Dispute Over Sale Of Mice," 4 Apr. 2018
TransCelerate has several other initiatives that focus on preclinical and clinical development as well as patient safety.

— mary jo lamberti, STAT, "Clinical trials take a long time to get started. Here’s how to speed it up," 28 Mar. 2018
Escalier’s drug candidates are in late-stage preclinical studies.

— bradley j. fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Escalier Biosciences raises $19 million," 16 Mar. 2018
One of Transcriptic’s particular specialities is preclinical drug screening.

— The Economist, "The gene machineRobotic labs for high-speed genetic research are on the rise," 1 Mar. 2018
UT Health San Antonio received $3.2 million of those funds to conduct preclinical testing of a therapeutic antibody, while $2.8 million went to McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston for drug development, the institutions said.

— peggy o’hare, San Antonio Express-News, "Scientists win $6 million grant for breast cancer drug development," 21 Dec. 2017
There are already several molecules targeting human epigenetics in a similar way under preclinical development or in clinical trials.

— Smithsonian, "Instead of Killing Bacteria, Can We Just “Turn Off” Its Ability To Cause Infections?," 14 Dec. 2017
Equally intriguing is a recent finding suggesting that loneliness may be a preclinical sign for Alzheimer’s disease.

— jane e. brody, charlotteobserver, "How loneliness takes a toll on our health | Charlotte Observer," 13 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'preclinical.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of preclinical

1876

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Medical Dictionary

preclinical

adjective pre·clin·i·cal \ (ˈ)prē-ˈklin-i-kəl \

medical Definition of preclinical

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)