Pharmaceutical translation

The pharmaceutical industry is a market that is growing globally. Professional translation in this area is therefore highly valued, as it contributes to the development and registration of new drugs on the international market.

Challenges that pharmaceutical translators tackle

Pharmaceutical industry language is full of complex specific terminology that includes a high proportion of technical terms. It is also important to remember that highly sensitive information is handled in this area. In addition, the content of pharmaceutical documents is related not only to the knowledge inherent in the industry, but also includes chemistry, biology and medicine-related information and concepts.

This means that pharmaceutical documents contain very precise information which, if incorrectly interpreted, translated or transcribed could entail significant risks to public health. Any organisation responsible for such errors would face very serious consequences.

Many pharma-related documents need to adhere to strict formatting guidelines.This includes the different parts of the CTD (Common Technical Document) - the internationally agreed regulatory dossier for applying to regulatory authorities to market new drugs.

The important role of professional translators in the pharmaceutical industry

Examples of documents that can be translated by an industry specialist translator or agency include:

• Pharmacological manuals.
• Articles for specialist press.
• Medical certificates and records.
• Leaflets and technical data sheets.
• Drug registration dossiers.
• Pharmacological studies.
• Laboratory reports.
• Pharmaceutical and chemical patents.
• Marketing and advertising for pharmaceutical products.
• Pharmaceutical company websites.

The peculiarities of pharmaceutical language make it impossible to rely on online machine translation tools for these projects and also require the translator to have higher education in pharmacy. This means it is inadvisable to delegate this work to a translation or interpreting graduate if they don't have the specific knowledge.

What we advise - and what many pharma companies do - is to choose an international translator who has the required knowledge and experience, is fully up to date with the latest advances in medicine and health, and is able to transfer this understanding into high-quality pharmaceutical translations. In short, you need a translator like those who work with an agency such as sanscrit.