In many areas of drug discovery and translational research, there is no universally standardized distinction between “targeted” and “targeting” approaches. However, clarifying the difference helps communicate whether a strategy acts directly on a target or modulates it indirectly. On this site, we define:

• Targeted approaches as any strategy designed to modulate a specific biological target, whether through direct interaction or by influencing related pathways, expression levels, localization, or stability.
  
  

• Targeting approaches as those involving agents that directly bind to the target to disrupt or modulate its molecular function.

This distinction aligns with terminology conventions in other areas of drug development. For instance, in kinase research, “kinase-targeted approaches” may include upstream pathway modulation, while “kinase-targeting approaches” refer to compounds that directly inhibit kinase activity through physical binding.

In biomedical research and drug development, terms like “compound,” “drug,” and “therapy” are sometimes used interchangeably, but they refer to different things depending on stage and context. On this site, we define:

• Compounds refer to individual chemical entities, most commonly small molecules, that are screened or studied in early discovery. These are not necessarily intended for clinical use yet.

• Drugs include small molecules, peptides, oligonucleotides, antibodies, or other modalities that have been developed to modulate a biological target and are intended for therapeutic use, either in development or approved.

• Therapies refer to the broader treatment approach, which may include one or more drugs, as well as dosing strategies, delivery methods, companion diagnostics, and patient selection frameworks.