Translation in the pharmaceutical sector is a particularly complex challenge. Like all translations, it requires an accurate understanding of the language and technical terms, but beyond that it must meet different needs depending on the target audience. In this article we are going to examine the challenges related to the effective and correct translation of various types of documents in the pharmaceutical industry, with a focus on the critical issues arising from the wide variety of target audiences.
Clinical Research: Documents related to clinical research, such as study protocols, are vital for understanding the intent and objectives of a specific research. They describe the hypothesis, methods, procedures for data collection and their analysis, and the results the team expects to obtain. Among the basic requirements for translators working with these documents is a deep understanding of scientific terms and the processes by which clinical research works: it is an essential element in being able to ensure that this crucial information is fully understood - and therefore translated correctly.
Regulation: Regulatory documents, such as the applications and paperwork required to receive marketing authorization, are critical in the process that takes a pharmaceutical product from the research laboratory to actual sale in a given market. These documents must strictly adhere to specific drafting and formatting standards, and of course the same accuracy must be maintained in translation into any language to ensure compliance with local and international laws. This may require legal as well as language skills.
Marketing: Pharmaceutical marketing documents, such as promotional materials or product presentations, require a different approach. Of course technical accuracy is important, but these documents must also be engaging and convincing, and translators must be able to maintain the tone and style of the original text on the one hand, and on the other hand make sure that the message is clear and understandable to the target audience, which may have completely different cultural and linguistic references.
Public Information: Public information documents, such as package inserts, have one basic requirement: to be easily understood by the general public. This requires a unique combination of skills to "translate" complex scientific terms not only into a different language, but into a simpler language, since they will have to be interpreted by readers who often lack any kind of specific expertise.
Translating technical documents in the pharmaceutical industry is therefore a considerable challenge, as we have seen, and requires extreme accuracy and consistency. What needs to be considered above all are the very serious potential consequences of even a tiny error, which in a different translation might never even be noticed: here it could result in misinterpretation of research results or misuse of a drug, even in the death of a patient. Pharmaceutical translators must therefore have an excellent knowledge of the field, a thorough understanding of technical terms, and a clear idea of the procedures used.
Adapting the language to the target group is important in all fields, but it becomes crucial in the pharmaceutical industry. Technical papers must maintain a scientific tone and style, and ensure absolute precision in terms, while as we have seen informational papers must be written in a language that is accessible and understandable to the general public. This requires a deep understanding of the needs and levels of understanding of different groups, such as physicians, patients and general consumers, as well as the actual significance of each term used. A physician reading a drug card needs extremely technical and detailed information to enable him, often while under pressure, to make the decision whether or not to use it, whereas a patient needs to be enabled to understand whether or not to take a drug by receiving simpler and more accessible explanations, which must start from the premise that they represent the sole source of information for an otherwise totally inexperienced user.
Translation in the pharmaceutical industry is therefore a task that requires a unique combination of linguistic, technical and cross-cultural skills. Not only must translators be able to accurately translate technical and scientific terms, but they must also be able to adapt their language according to the target group.
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