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

Azzam is now working on another clinical trial, this time involving adult and pediatric cancer patients, to gather additional data on the effectiveness of functional precision medicine to help guide cancer treatment. —Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2024

Drug development is more of a sprint than a marathon these days, thanks to more and better ways to target underlying biology and a more nuanced interpretation of precision medicine, three biotech leaders said at the STAT Breakthrough Summit East in New York Thursday. —Elizabeth Cooney, STAT, 22 Mar. 2024

The Nordics are today at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which has introduced high-tech robotics, artificial intelligence, 3-D printing, precision medicine, and other innovations. —Børge Brende, Foreign Affairs, 2 Jan. 2020

This is a critical inefficiency that must be resolved to deliver precision medicine to health consumers efficiently. —Rajeev Ronanki, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2024

This holds promise to tackle the long tail of rare diseases, and advancing precision medicine or personalized medicine, as in tailoring treatments to individual genetic, environmental, and behavioral factors. —Aparna Dhinakaran, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024

When asked about its use of precision medicine, AbbVie declined to comment. —Tribune News Service, Hartford Courant, 3 Jan. 2024

Treatment Recommendations In treatment recommendations, the emphasis is on precision medicine, predicting what treatment might be beneficial and clearing any ailment. —Bankim Chandra, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2023

Ruth March, AstraZeneca’s senior vice president of precision medicine, said Biobank data had already informed the design of drugs that are moving through the company’s pipeline. —Andrew Joseph, STAT, 29 Nov. 2023

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