Medical and pharmaceutical translations

Bantelmann Translate offers medical and pharmaceutical translations for the medical, surgical, dental and veterinary sectors, using specialised translators, who are native speakers, and offering harmonisation and back-translation practices.

What are pharmaceutical and medical translation?

Medical and pharmaceutical translation are particular sub-types of scientific translation; they refer to the conversion of all documentation relating to medical practices, pharmacological research or medical devices into a language other than the original.

In medical translations, absolute precision of terminology and the perfect coincidence of concepts with those of the original is, if possible, even more important than in all other areas: the accuracy of the message and surety of its interpretation could literally save lives.

Who requires medical translations?

Pharmaceutical and medical translations are in demand in the medical, surgical, dental and veterinary sectors, both for clinical practice and trials, as well as in the field of laboratory, medical or radiological equipment.

This, of course, implies that there are many different actors in this area of specialised translation: hospitals and research laboratories require specialised medical translations, but also universities and CROs (Contract Research Organisations).

Pharmaceutical companies, regulatory offices, and medical and electro-medical equipment manufacturers also require medical translations, without forgetting publishers and medical-scientific researchers.

The need for this type of translation is growing along with globalisation and the expansion both of markets and of the scientific community, two factors that make communication of discoveries and research in different languages necessary. In addition to this, in order to sell their pharmaceutical and medical products worldwide, companies must follow strict legal regulations and guidelines, which are constantly evolving in each country and must be perfectly understood.

Which kinds of documents require medical translations?

Medical and pharmaceutical translations are required for a wide variety of documents, precisely because they cover very different branches – from research to hospital care, from the marketing of medical products to scientific communication and dissemination.

This is but a brief overview of the main types of documentation for which a medical translation is required:

Our method and approach

The need for absolute accuracy and reliability in medical and pharmaceutical translations requires the application of very specific text processing methods which can guarantee the absence of errors or misunderstandings of any kind in the translated medical text.

First and foremost, the people involved in the process are always professionals who are specialised in the field of medical translation. They therefore do not only master the required languages, but are also able to perfectly comprehend the highly formalised and accurate sector-specific language typical of medical documentation, whether the purpose be technical/specialist communication or wider dissemination.

In relation to this, and also with the aim of maintaining the technical phraseology that is often linked to individual companies, a translator in the medical and pharmaceutical fields makes use of special phraseological databases and terminology guides, such as those drawn up by the EMA.

Secondly, to process and translate pharmaceutical and medical documentation of all kinds, distinctive processes are applied to ensure maximum adherence to the original text: harmonisation and back-translation. In the harmonisation phase, the original text is entrusted for translation to two different translators, both of whom are experts in the field and native speakers. Once they have completed their separate work, they compare and merge the two translations into a single document, so as to detect and resolve any oversights by the colleague.

Finally – and this is the back-translation stage – this final text is entrusted to a third translator, again a native speaker and expert in the field, who has to re-translate it into the original language. The comparison of the resulting text with the source document guarantees perfect adherence, accuracy and comprehensibility of the translation obtained.

In addition to this, and even more so than in other sectors, professional medical translators guarantee the utmost confidentiality and secrecy regarding their work, which often involves highly confidential information.

Finally, medical projects that require translation (e.g. those carried out by many CROs) often last several years. In order to maintain absolute continuity in the results and language used, these projects are entrusted to a stable team of translators, who take care of them over the project’s lifetime.

Available languages

Bantelmann Translate is able to offer specialist medical and pharmaceutical translations from and into a wide range of languages: