Translation And Localization Solution For The Medical & Pharmaceutical Industry

TRANSLATION SOLUTION FOR THE MEDICAL & PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

The world Pharmaceutical industry is expected to increase to US$1.5 Trillion by 2023. In Singapore, the industry, which is considerably backed by the Singapore government, is projected to reach US$1.2 Billion by 2021.

With strong support from the government, and coupled with its world-class infrastructure and highly-trained biomedical workforce, it is no surprise that Singapore has emerged as an attractive hub for many pharmaceutical giants with many of their regional HQ and manufacturing facilities located here.

Singapore is now Asia’s fastest-growing bio-cluster, with opportunities for a strategic partnership with research institutions, corporate labs, and public hospitals to develop new medicines and future therapies that can be customized for regional and global markets.

What is Medical & Pharmaceutical Translation?

Translation performed for the medical and pharmaceutical industry is a specialized translation that required high accuracy. Because of the nature of the industry, there is absolutely no room for translation errors.

Most of the translation requirements are for clinical trials, new medicine, medical information, critical medical research, medical devices, and marketing materials related to the medical and pharmaceutical industry.

Because the accuracy of information is so critical, such translations must be performed by linguists or translation service providers with extensive experience handling translation and localization for the medical and pharmaceutical industry. A missed step may lead to medical complications, lawsuits, or even death.

Why is Medical Translation so important?

Most medical translations are done to facilitate the dissemination of information to the end-users. Although most will only think of patients as the recipients of the information, users of this information are very varied and they can include doctors, researchers, administrators, and anyone who may require them for decision making. Medical translation allows medical professionals to provide the appropriate care and treatment for patients who speak another language. It facilitates effective and efficient communication between medical professionals and their patients.

 With medical translations, patients will have a better understanding of their conditions, the treatments available to them, the benefits and side effects of such treatments, alternative treatments available to them, and much other information that may help them make life-changing decisions.

Our exclusive focus on localization and translation requirements that are unique to the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology industry makes us the preferred partner in localization solutions.

Doctors and nurses having access to translated information about foreign patients can have a better understanding of the conditions of their patients and will be in a better position to decide on the best treatment possible for them.

Medical translation plays an important role in the dissemination of new knowledge and discoveries globally, across different cultures, races, and languages.

What are the challenges of translation for the medical and pharmaceutical industry?

The process of R&D, Testing, Approval, Production, and Distribution of a new drug is extremely lengthy and costly. Not only do Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies have to deal with challenges of rapid growth, but they also have to ensure regulatory compliance in an evolving regulatory landscape. Hence, there is a pressing need for companies to address such challenges.

Highly Regulated

The Medical and Pharmaceutical industry is highly regulated. In Singapore, the medical and pharmaceutical industry is regulated by the Health Sciences Authority (HAS) and the Health Product Act 2007. The agency carries out stringent tests and strict approvals on medical devices, pharmaceuticals, medicines, and other supplements.

Accuracy and Consistency

In this industry, accuracy is not an optional element. All kinds of literature must be rendered with pinpoint accuracy, whatever the language. Consistency is also an issue many pharmaceutical companies have to deal with a majority of the documentation and marketing materials are scheduled for worldwide simultaneous launch with very little room for mistakes.

With so much invested in R&D, time-to-market is very important. Successfully managing translation requirements and compliance issues can mean a difference between a timely and profitable product introduction and your competitors having the first bite of the market.

Huge Amount of Documentation

For this industry, huge amounts of documentation and product collaterals are produced each year. To ensure regulatory compliance, these collaterals must be harmonized across the world and health authorities in more than 150 countries. This gives rise to huge volumes of materials to be managed and translated from a source language into many other languages.

These materials may include regulatory compliance documentation, User Guides, Device GUIs, Marketing Communications Materials, Clinical Trial Reports, Manufacturing descriptions, Test Specifications, etc.

High Cost of Mistakes

The medical and pharmaceutical industry is a critical industry the has zero tolerance for mistakes. Such specialized translation requires high accuracy.

Because accuracy and timeliness of information are so critical, even the slightest error in translation can be a matter of life and death leading to medical complications, lawsuits, or even death.

Just to put things into perspective, one statistic shows that pharmaceutical companies can speed up to US$100 million per year on recalls that are linked to labeling mistakes.

Implementation of Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS)

Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health and Health Care are intended to advance health equity, improve quality and help eliminate health care disparities by establishing a blueprint for organizations to deliver effective, understandable, and respectful services at every point of patient contact.

The standards outlined in CLAS ensure that healthcare and medical services in a multicultural and multilingual world are inclusive.

Increased importance of Patient Engagement

Technological advances have made information more readily available to end-consumers. The digital realm has sped up the process of information dissemination making savvier end-consumers. Inclusivity has become the new norm, exiting exclusivity.

Healthcare data exchange will feature prominently in the years to come and healthcare service providers must recognize that to be more focused on patient experience, a clear understanding of the patients’ need is necessary, and to generate more value for their patients, they must find ways to maximize patient engagement.

Increasing patient engagement means more than just providing them with information. We must all realized that like it or not, information is readily available. The challenge is not only to provide essential, up-to-date, and real-time information through different channels, including digital channels but also to engage the patients by reaching out and speaking to them in a tongue most familiar. This calls for a solution that is “beyond the pill”. This calls for localization.

The following are some challenges faced by Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies relating to product documentation/localization:

• Management of massive amount of data created yearly due to regulatory requirements, compliance, and liability issues
• Ensuring accuracy and consistency in the localization/translation of such a massive amount of data
• Management of multilingual versions

TRANSLATION SOLUTIONS WITH A FOCUS ON THE MEDICAL INDUSTRY

Lingua Technologies International has been a trusted localization partner of many Pharmaceutical giants for the past decade.

We know that the medical and pharmaceutical industries require a translation solution that is very different from other industries. We are aware of the demands and responsibility of being entrusted with the translation of patient-sensitive data or highly specialized medical information.

Subject Matter Experts

The success of a medical translation is largely dependent on the level of knowledge and understanding of the field displayed by the linguist. Our medical translators may not be practicing medical professionals, but they are native speakers with extensive experience and knowledge of medical translation.

ISO 17100 Certified Process

ISO 17100 certification is a globally recognized certification for translation companies by the translation industry. It controls and mandates requirements for the deployment of only qualified linguists, revisers, and trained project managers. There is a mandatory 4-eye QA process to ensure the elimination of critical errors in the final output. All these will enhance and heighten the quality of the translation output necessary for medical translation.

Dedicated Project Manager

Our dedicated project management team, as well as a linguist team specialized in the pharmaceutical and medical field, have been working together to fulfill the most stringent localization requirements.

Medical Terminology

Medical terminology is critical in the success or failure of a medical translation. Translated terminology is typically kept and utilized for specific purposes. These medical terminologies are inaccessible to the average person and need to be managed by medical translators who are specialized in these medical terms.

It is true that terminology can only be deployed sensibly in relation to context and that its usage can only make sense when applied with a high level of understanding of the subject matter.

The maintenance and upkeep of medical terminology with target specialization allow for the use of more accurate terms to avoid mistranslations and misunderstandings.

Types of Translation for the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry

Our team has the expansive experience of supporting the medical and pharmaceutical industry with medical translation services for:

• General Medical Translation
• Healthcare Translation
• Clinical Trial Documentation Translation
• Medical Insurance Translation
• Life Sciences Translation
• User Guides and Manuals for Medical Devices
• Medical Prescriptions
• Medical Records
• Pharmaceutical Translations
• Translation and Maintenance of Medical Terminology
• Packing boxes and labeling
• Marketing collaterals
• Digital Marketing Communications

Our exclusive focus on localization and translation requirements that are unique to the medical and pharmaceutical industry makes us the preferred partner in localization solutions.

CONCLUSION

With an in-depth understanding of the diverse challenges and concerns of the Pharmaceutical Industry, Lingua Technologies International offers ISO 17100 certified translation that combines state-of-the-art translation technology with human intelligence that works seamlessly with a quantifiable QA process.

Your long-term global success in the medical and pharmaceutical industry requires a dynamic language partner; one that establishes technical, organizational, and process standards with integrity and commitment.

Leverage from our wealth of experience. Let us be your language partner.

Contact us now at +65 6576 0138 or fill up our web inquiry form immediately. We are ready to share our experience with you.

Here is a clientele list of Lingua Technologies International in the medical and pharmaceutical industry:

• Boston Scientific Asia Pacific Pte Ltd
• Chiltern
• Cardinal Health Singapore 225 Pte Ltd
• Center for Enabled Living
• Creganna Medical Private Limited
• DiagnoSearch
• Farrer Park Hospital Pte Ltd
• Gambro Group
• GSK
• IMH
• INEX Innovations Exchange Pte Ltd
• John Hopkins-NUH Int’l Medical Centre
• Johnson & Johnson Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics,
• LaCorium Health Singapore
• Lonza Bioscience Singapore Pte Ltd
• Merz Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.
• National Cancer Center
• National Heart Center
• NUH Cancer Therapeutic Research
• Pacific Healthcare Holdings Ltd
• Parkway Hospital
• Pfizer
• Roche Pharma APAC
• Roche Singapore
• Sanofi-Synthelabo Singapore
• Schülke & Mayr (Asia) Pte. Ltd.
• Singapore Clinical Research Institute (SCRI)
• Smith & Nephew Pte Ltd
• Tan Tock Seng Hospital
• Technoform Bautec
• Thierum
• Thomson Fertility Centre
• Thomson Prenatal Diagnostic
• Unitron Asia Hub
• URGO Healthcare