Tempus is an AI-powered precision medicine company that collects and analyzes massive amounts of clinical and molecular data to help doctors make more personalized treatment decisions. Founded in 2015 and now publicly traded on NASDAQ, Tempus operates at the intersection of genomic testing, artificial intelligence, and real-world patient data. Its core idea: if you can gather enough detailed health information and apply smart algorithms to it, you can match patients to better treatments, catch diseases earlier, and speed up drug development.
The company’s work spans several medical specialties, but oncology (cancer care) is where it started and where its footprint is largest. Tempus has built a library of more than 8.5 million de-identified patient records, including over 1.5 million records that link clinical data with genomic information. That dataset is the engine behind nearly everything the company does.
Genomic Testing for Cancer
At the most tangible level, Tempus is a lab that sequences tumors. When a patient is diagnosed with cancer, their oncologist can order a Tempus test to identify specific genetic mutations driving the disease. The results help determine which targeted therapies or immunotherapies are most likely to work.
Tempus offers several genomic tests with different scopes. The xT CDx is its most comprehensive tissue-based test, analyzing 648 genes from a tumor sample along with a matched normal sample from blood or saliva. It also checks for microsatellite instability, a biomarker that indicates whether certain immunotherapies may be effective. For situations where a tissue biopsy isn’t feasible or a doctor needs to track how a cancer is responding to treatment over time, Tempus offers liquid biopsy tests that analyze tumor DNA circulating in the bloodstream. The xF panel covers 105 genes, while the expanded xF+ panel covers 523 genes and can also flag mutations linked to age-related blood cell changes that might otherwise be confused with cancer signals.
These test results don’t just go to the ordering physician. With the patient’s consent, the de-identified data feeds back into the Tempus library, making the dataset richer and the AI models smarter over time.
An AI Assistant for Oncologists
Tempus One is a generative AI clinical assistant designed to sit inside the workflow oncologists already use. It pulls from a patient’s electronic health records, lab results, and Tempus test reports to give the doctor a quick, structured view before each appointment: summarized treatment history, biomarker status, and the current status of any pending test orders.
Beyond summaries, the tool handles practical tasks that eat up a clinician’s day. It generates real-time transcriptions during patient visits and saves notes directly to the chart. It helps prepare prior authorization paperwork. Doctors can use it to search for clinical trials based on a specific patient’s profile, filter their patient panel by genetic alteration or diagnosis, and request add-on tests without leaving the interface. If the AI can’t answer a question, it connects the clinician to a live Tempus representative.
Clinical Trial Matching
Finding the right clinical trial for a cancer patient is notoriously difficult. Eligibility criteria are complex, and many patients who would qualify never learn a trial exists. Tempus addresses this through its Next Trials platform, which uses AI to pre-screen patients against trial requirements by combining their clinical records, imaging, and molecular data.
The platform works from both sides. For hospitals, it identifies patients within their system who may be eligible for active trials. For pharmaceutical sponsors, it accelerates enrollment by surfacing qualified candidates across Tempus’s network of care sites. Nurse navigators support the enrollment process, helping patients move from identification to participation more quickly. The company calls this its TIME (Tempus Intelligent Matching Engine) program.
Cardiology and Beyond
Tempus has expanded well beyond cancer. Its cardiology division uses AI algorithms layered on top of standard diagnostic tools, particularly the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), to catch heart conditions that might otherwise go unnoticed.
The company has received FDA clearance for two ECG-based AI algorithms. One, called ECG-Low EF, analyzes a routine ECG to detect signs of weakened heart pumping function (a left ventricular ejection fraction of 40% or below) in patients 40 and older who are at risk of heart failure. In clinical validation, it correctly identified 86% of patients with reduced heart function and correctly ruled it out 83% of the time, with a 98% negative predictive value, meaning a negative result is highly reliable. The second cleared algorithm, ECG-AF, flags patients who may be at increased risk of atrial fibrillation, a common irregular heart rhythm that raises stroke risk.
Altogether, Tempus now offers more than 40 cardiology algorithms covering 15 cardiovascular diseases, including aortic stenosis, mitral regurgitation, congestive heart failure, and abdominal aortic aneurysms. Roughly 150 hospitals nationwide use the Tempus Next platform for cardiac screening, with over 60,000 patients screened per month and more than 2.5 million screened to date. The company also provides AI-powered analysis of cardiac MRI images, automating parts of the reporting process for blood flow visualization and tissue characterization.
Powering Drug Development
A significant part of Tempus’s business faces the pharmaceutical industry rather than the clinic. Ninety-five percent of the top 20 oncology pharma companies partner with Tempus, and the company has established over 250 biopharma partnerships in total.
What drug companies get from Tempus is access to structured, multimodal real-world data: genomic sequences linked to treatment histories, pathology images, and clinical outcomes. This lets researchers identify new drug targets, figure out which patient populations respond best to a therapy, assess whether a clinical trial is feasible before launching it, and generate real-world evidence to support regulatory filings. Tempus also offers contract research services, companion diagnostic development, and an FDA-cleared RNA-based diagnostic (the xR IVD) specifically designed as a tool for drug development programs.
The data library itself is the core asset here. With 8.5 million de-identified records, over 2 million records with imaging data, and around 350,000 records with full gene-expression profiles, it represents one of the largest clinically annotated datasets in precision medicine. Pharma companies access it through a cloud platform called Lens, where they can build patient cohorts, run retrospective analyses, and generate hypotheses without needing to design and fund a new study from scratch.
Digital Pathology and Imaging AI
Tempus operates a centralized digital pathology service that scans traditional glass slides into high-resolution whole-slide images. Once digitized, AI models analyze the images to predict things a pathologist would normally need additional tests to confirm: microsatellite instability status, specific genomic alterations, and how much usable material a tissue sample contains for sequencing. This can save days of turnaround time and reduce the need for repeat biopsies.
Pharmacogenomics for Mental Health
One of Tempus’s more specialized offerings applies to psychiatric care. Its pharmacogenomic testing analyzes how a patient’s genes affect their ability to metabolize common psychiatric medications. The results help psychiatrists choose antidepressants, antipsychotics, or other drugs that are more likely to work and less likely to cause side effects for that individual. Paired with a patient-facing app that tracks symptoms and treatment response over time, the service creates a feedback loop between genetic data and real-world outcomes.