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What you need to know about Medical and Pharmaceutical Translation

Modern medical practice is based on the available scientific knowledge combined with the healthcare professionals’ clinical experience and the patients’ preferences to help improve healthcare decisions.

Healthcare professionals have access to this scientific knowledge mainly through the body of research evidence published in peer-reviewed academic journals or via key opinion leaders’ presentations in congresses, conferences, symposiums. English is the primary language of clinical research and, thus, the universal standard for scientific knowledge sharing.

Modern clinical research is not only multidisciplinary but multinational since studies are generally conducted across multiple countries. Scientists and researchers working together but in different countries may speak different languages, and communication is critical for drug development, data reliability, regulatory compliance and ethical clinical trials.

Translation of key technical, medico-scientific and regulatory documentation as well as patient-facing material is vital for communication within multinational research teams and with study participants, and for external communication between sponsor, investigator, manufacturer, and regulatory authorities, and, of course, for sharing research findings with the medical scientific community, policymakers and the general public to enhance quality and transparency of clinical research. And here is where specialised medical and pharmaceutical translators come in handy.

Medical Translation

Medical translation concerns a wide range of specialties and subspecialties focused on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Translating medical texts is much more than transferring information from one language to another. It requires background knowledge of different scientific disciplines such as (bio)chemistry, biology, anatomy and physiology of the human body, pathogenesis, pathophysiology, among many other branches of science to fully understand medical language (and content) and provide a precise translation of medical documents.

Medical discourse is divided into different genres tailored to specific contexts, audiences, and purposes; for example, genres that facilitate communication between healthcare professionals and patients and/or their caregivers; genres primarily used by healthcare professionals; academic and scientific genres, and so forth.

Comprehensive subject matter knowledge as well as different linguistic approaches are necessary to accurately adapt translated medical information for different audiences based on genre, document type, context, and purpose of the translation.

Pharmaceutical Translation

Pharma and biotech research companies lead the path from understanding a disease at the level of genes, proteins, and cells to discovering a candidate compound, further testing it in different pre-clinical and clinical studies, manufacturing it and marketing it to make it available to patients.

The pharmaceutical industry is a highly regulated multidisciplinary sector that bridges clinical research and medical practice. During the journey of a new drug from the lab to the patients, different types of documents are generated. Translation of pharma texts requires the same linguistic and translation skills as well as medical background knowledge required in medical translation plus a matrix of highly specialised languages such as scientific language used mainly in internal communications within research teams; technical language used in the manufacturing processes; legal and regulatory language used for communication between sponsor, investigator and regulatory authorities; and marketing language used for drug promotion.

In-depth knowledge of all the stages of drug development as well as the documents generated that need to be translated, their audience and purpose is key to providing precise, terminology-compliant and timely translations of pharma texts.

Specialised Medical and Pharmaceutical Translators

Translating medical and pharmaceutical texts requires linguistic expertise (proficiency in the source and target languages), college-level translation studies, but, most importantly, background knowledge of different scientific disciplines such as (bio)chemistry, biology, anatomy and physiology of the human body, pathogenesis, pathophysiology, among many other branches of science.

A specialised medical and pharmaceutical translator reads the source text, fully understands it, and renders its content in a precise and timely manner because of his/her background expert linguistic, translation and subject matter knowledge.

Vital translators fully conversant with the different disciplines involved in all the stages of drug development as well as with the nomenclature and regulatory terminology of mandatory use can help with the translation of medical and pharma texts to support drug development, healthcare and scientific knowledge sharing.

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Are translation and interpretation the same kind of language service?

No. Although both translation and interpretation are language services that require the linguists in charge to be proficient in both the source language and the target language, have translation skills as well as subject matter knowledge on the topic they are working with and be accurate in conveying the tone and intent of the original message, these services serve different purposes. The translation service implies working with written text. Translators work with different types of documents to be printed, published online or even exchanged with other people. The interpretation service implies working with speech; that is, spoken text. Interpreters can work in situ, for example, in meetings, congresses, seminars, over the phone or via videocall. Whether you need a translation service or an interpretation service, always trust certified professional linguists.

No. The translation of regulatory documentation requires in-depth knowledge of the source and target regulatory affairs as well as of the terminology of mandatory use in the pharmaceutical industry to provide high-quality and timely translations and help avoid delays during drug authorisation and registration processes. The translation of advertising materials requires subject matter knowledge plus a touch of creativity, a combination of translation and copywriting skills to transfer the creative language —generally lost during a direct translation— into the target language to achieve the desired response from the target audience.

Yes. The desktop publishing (DTP) service can be provided as an integrated part of the translation process or as an independent service. In the first case, the client sends us the file for translation, and we then deliver a translated file that keeps the integrity of the original design. In the second case, the client sends the linguistic content and the specifications for page layout and a team of experts in the field of desktop publishing generates page layouts and produces printed or digital materials using DTP software. In both cases, we can advise the client on professional output aligned with the target language’s visual layout and design requirements.

Yes. The method for establishing translation rates is based on source word count, language pair, complexity of the document, project volume and urgency of delivery. When clients contact us to get a quote, we analyse the file(s) to determine total word count and the complexity of the file(s) and we also take into account the language pair; for example, if it is English into Spanish, or Spanish into English. Special discount rates may apply in big-volume projects and extra “rush charges” may apply in the case of urgent deliveries.

Yes. To be able to provide a quote, we first need to analyse the file(s) to determine the word count, the complexity and the translation steps that would be involved in the whole translation process; that is, we need to evaluate whether there is non-editable text that needs to be converted into editable text to be translated, determine the total word count to estimate the translation time and delivery date, and assess whether the file(s) require desktop publishing (DTP). To be able to provide an accurate quote, we need to see and analyse the file(s).