Translations play an essential role in the pharmaceutical industry when it comes to importing and exporting medicines around the world. Patients and pharmacists alike need accurate information in their own language – so documents such as Patient Information Leaflets, Summaries of Product Characteristics, clinical trials information and so on can be vital. This is relevant to both pharmaceutical manufacturers and also pharmaceutical service providers who import unlicensed and named patient medicines when they’re required.

The named medicine/unlicensed medicine market works on a global scale, allowing patients from around the world to receive treatments that may not be available in their country at that time. Patients must of course be provided with all the necessary literature to accompany their medicine, but before this, they will require in-depth information about their medicinal options to allow them to make an informed decision as to whether or not they will move forward with treatment.

Overcoming Language Barriers

With importation and exportation comes language barriers, and in turn, translators. Translation companies must work closely with pharmaceutical companies to ensure that all medical product literature is precise and correct.

The requirement for translations in the pharmaceutical industry is more common than you might think. When you consider the range of languages around the world, the varying languages medical literature will be written in, and the amount of patients that may require licensed and unlicensed medicines, you soon get a lot of language combinations, and a lot of translations being required.

The Importance of Precision

Translation errors in any industry can prove to be extremely costly, but in the pharmaceutical market, perhaps even more so. Incorrect or ambiguous translations always have a negative effect when it comes to brand or company trust, and this increases when the end user or in this case, patient, can be affected.

In order to avoid poor quality translations, it’s worthwhile investing in a translation company with extensive experience in the industry you work in. Ambiguity can be problematic, (check out our recent post on the challenges of translating for the pharmaceutical industry) therefore an experienced translator who is familiar with your particular field is an essential addition to your translation project. As well as having specific industry experience, translators should also be working in their mother tongue.

Alexika provide pharmaceutical translation services to a range of companies and service providers around the globe. For more information, get in touch with our team of experts today.

Categories: General

View other blog posts from: Jun, 2016