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

Euan Ashley is chair of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University and a physician-scientist whose research spans genomics, precision medicine, digital health, and artificial intelligence. — Euan Ashley, STAT, 1 Oct. 2026

Genomic testing and precision medicine can reveal molecular features that may influence how a cancer behaves and which therapies may be most effective. — Baptist Health, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2026

The company has published studies on its test methodology and how its precision medicine can improve patient outcomes. — Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026

Hospitals are already using AI to support medical imaging, precision medicine, genomics, predictive analytics, clinical decision-making, virtual care and administrative automation. — Anri Amir David, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1992, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for precision medicine

• biomedicine
• telemedicine

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