investigational
adjective
in·ves·ti·ga·tion·al
| \ in-ˌve-stə-ˈgā-shnəl
, -shə-nᵊl\
, -shə-nᵊl\
Definition of investigational
1
: of or relating to investigation
investigational activities
2
: relating to or being a drug or medical procedure that is not approved for general use but is under investigation in clinical trials regarding its safety and efficacy
an investigational new drug
Examples of investigational in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In February 2013, a workshop was convened by the agency, which eventually concluded that the best way to proceed would be to designate FMT as an investigational drug, which could be used only in clinical trials. — Linda Carroll, NBC News, "There were no guidelines for fecal transplants. Then, a patient died.," 25 Aug. 2019 Congress took a small step in the right direction this May by passing a Right to Try law, which theoretically grants terminal patients the right to access investigational drugs that haven’t shown clinical efficacy. — Paul J. Marangos, WSJ, "The Terminally Ill Need More Than the ‘Right to Try’," 13 Aug. 2018 In March, the House passed legislation aimed at giving seriously ill patients increased access to investigational drugs, a bill championed by Vice President Mike Pence. — USA TODAY, "Live stream: President Trump signs the "Right to Try Act"," 30 May 2018 The two trials were to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a gene therapy for beta thalassemia using LentiGlobin, an investigational therapy by Bluebird Bio. — Jacqueline Howard, CNN, "Gene therapy helps patients avoid blood transfusion," 18 Apr. 2018 With such promising lab results, the team got an emergency investigational new drug approval from the Food and Drug Administration to treat the sick doctor with their pond phage. — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, "Virus fished from pond cures man’s deadly antibiotic-resistant infection," 20 Mar. 2018 Patients, under the advice of their doctors, would be able to reach out to a drug manufacturer to request an investigational therapy without having to go through the FDA. — Sy Mukherjee, Fortune, "Trump Called for a 'Right to Try' Law During His State of the Union. Here's What That Means," 1 Feb. 2018 In denying the ventilator, Health Net classified the device as an experimental or investigational service, the lawsuit states. — Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY, "ALS activist who gained notoriety for quizzing Sen. Flake sues insurer," 2 July 2018 The first is a combination investigational antibody and drug that targets a protein called B-cell maturation antigen, or BCMA. — Clifton Leaf, Fortune, "GSK’s New CEO Emma Walmsley Has a Strong Start Out of the Gate," 8 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'investigational.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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