Life Sciences

Life Sciences translations and global content services for pharma, medical device and clinical research companies 

Unmatched expertise for worldwide medical and pharma communications

Acolad has more than 30 years of experience providing life sciences translation and content services with an uncompromising commitment to quality.  

We fully understand the challenging universe in which you operate, and that’s why our technology and service solutions are designed to meet industry demands: regulation, validation, and compliance to local and cultural requirements. 

Partnering with medical device, pharmaceutical, biotech and clinical research organizations, we provide the highest level of language and content services, unmatched expertise, and industry knowledge that helps save lives. 

The benefits of working with Acolad include a true partnership, willingness to discuss possibilities to improve tools and processes, and passion about services provided. The guaranteed quality and efficiencies are greatly appreciated.

Jennifer Kelly
Vice President Operations, HealthiVibe 

Streamline product information and labeling requirements globally  

Scale up to meet global clinical trial timelines 

Adopt a centralized approach to multilingual content management to meet regulatory compliance demands 

Increase project quality and efficiency with technology enabled language and content solutions 

Our Life Sciences Clients

We're proud to have established long-term partnerships with some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, CROs, and laboratories across Europe, Asia and the United States. 

Long-standing Expertise in Life Sciences

We have a long history providing content and language solutions for the Life Sciences industry, and are sensitive to the exacting standards demanded by the industry. 

  • Amyloidosis 
  • Cardiology (Acute Myocardial Infarction) 
  • Cardiology (Atrial fibrillation) 
  • Cardiology (Coronary Artery Disease) 
  • Cardiovascular Disease 
  • Chronic diseases 
  • Chronic Hepatitis B 
  • Congenital Heart Disease 
  • Coronary Artery Disease 
  • Dermatology (Psoriasis) 
  • Diabetes 
  • Endocrinology 
  • Gastroenterology 
  • Genetic (Prader-Willi Syndrome) 
  • Gynaecology 
  • Haematology 
  • Heart Disease 
  • Immunology 
  • Infectious diseases 
  • Insomnia Disorder 
  • Kidney Disease 
  • Liver Disease 
  • Neurodegenerative disease (Alzheimer) 
  • Neurology 
  • Neurology (Parkinson) 
  • Oncology 
  • Ophthalmology 
  • Porphyria  
  • Psychiatry 
  • Pulmonology 
  • Renal Function 
  • Rheumatology 
  • Schizophrenia 
  • Urology 
  • Skin Disease 
  • Virology 

  • Cardiac devices 
  • Diabetes Care  
  • Diagnostic devices 
  • Mobile devices 
  • Orthopedics 
  • Surgical devices 
  • Vision care 

  • Patient-facing materials 
  • Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) 
  • Drug safety and pharmacovigilance documents  
  • Clinical trial protocols  
  • Packaging and labeling 
  • Regulatory submission documents 
  • Instructions for Use 
  • Technical manuals 
  • Medical literature 
  • Instruction and installation manuals for medical devices 
  • Marketing and advertising  
  • Websites, software, mobile apps and IoT 
  • Elearning and training 
  • Legal, financial documents 

Tech-Enabled Life Sciences Language and Content Solutions

Acolad offers a complete ecosystem of solutions and services that support the development, production, localization and international marketing of medicinal products and medical devices, all in full compliance with the regulatory demands of the EMA (European Medicines Agency), the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and other national health authorities worldwide. 

We combine the latest advances in digital collaboration, artificial intelligence, and neural machine translation with human expertise to offer competitive, responsive, and high-quality life sciences translation and content solutions. 

Translation Memories (TMs) and glossaries

A translation memory records previously translated documents for a given client for use in future translations. Integrated with glossaries, these tools improve brand and terminology consistency. 

Translation Management System (TMS)

The TMS provides a solution specifically tuned for Life Sciences resulting in efficiencies in cost and time.  

  • Web based portal for quote requests, project tracking, asset and file sharing 
  • Centralized procurement, transparency, and performance management 
  • Tuned to Life Sciences workflows 
  • Automated retrieval of project or country specifications  
  • Integrated online review and validation platforms 
  • Integration with client IT systems and infrastructure for end-to-end automated workflows 
  • Cost savings between 10 and 30% 

Machine Translation (MT)

  • One stop-shop with built-in optimization cycle: NMT engine training, linguistic asset curation, high-end human translation  
  • Flexibility to use different MT models for different content and/or language pairs 
  • Life Sciences customization of neural MT with streamlined MT engine training 
  • Life Sciences post editors with deep knowledge of your field or therapeutic area 
  • Applied AI for source text analysis and post-MT optimization 
  •  Confidentiality and information security compliant 

Translation Connectors & System Integration

Off the shelf and bespoke translation connectors, APIs, and integrations with your existing systems and repositories - cloud applications, legacy ECM and WCM systems, RIM, Quality and Clinical Trial systems, collaboration tools, PIM and DAM systems. 

  • Tailor-made integrations adapted to Life Sciences content workflows 
  • Ideal for handling large volumes of product and regulatory content 
  • Focus on user experience to ensure no disruption to other workflows and systems 
  • Easy to scale up as your translation needs grow 

Life Sciences Suite

A scalable and flexible platform for unified management of data, content and processes in a familiar user interface. 

Regulatory Process and Information Management 

  • Regulatory Content Management 
  • Regulatory Planning and Tracking 
  • Product Information Management 
  • Submission Management & Publishing 
  • Labeling Management 
  • Regulatory Analytics 

Quality Management and Document Compliance 

  • Quality Document Management 
  • Quality Process Management 
  • Quality Analytics 

Pharmaceutical & Biotech Companies

In the pharma and biotech sectors, regulatory compliance, quality, integrity, traceability, and patient safety are key factors that must be taken into consideration for developing your business in international markets. We can fulfil all your language needs at every stage of the product lifecycle, from pre-clinical to post-market. 

  • Introduction of global products 
  • Regulatory compliance  
  • Patient safety and uncompromising quality requirements 
  • Time to market 

  1. Translate clinical trial documents
    • Protocols, correspondences, dossiers, patient recruitment materials, COA/PRO instruments
    • Study technology and processes to ensure globally scalable, accurate and timely results
  2. Successful and timely regulatory submissions
    • Deep knowledge of EMA submissions and ROW 
    • Tools developed for submissions requirements 
  3. Marketing communications 
    • Website localization 
    • Multilingual SEO 
    • Marcom materials localization and desktop publishing 
    • Copywriting and marketing transcreation 
  4. Patient engagement experience 
    • Linguists specialized in study engagement, patient marketing and education 
    • Interpretation services and platforms to enable patient communication in a remote setting 
  5. Translation of pharmacovigilance (i.e. adverse events) in a streamlined and efficient manner 
    • Timeliness of pharmacovigilance reporting 
    • Systems and processes tuned for rapid turnaround 
    • Technology to handle a variety of inputs and report formats
  6. Translation of quality SOPs 
  7. Translation of manufacturing records 
  8. Corporate communications (HR, Legal, Training) 
    • Multimedia subtitling, captioning and voice over 
    • Elearning localization 
    • In person and remote interpretation 

Clinical Research Organizations

Clinical trials are highly regulated and generate a large volume of documents with complex workflows for translation and linguistic validation. Clinical outcome assessments (COAs) are compiled as a written questionnaire, which is used in patient reported outcomes (PROs), clinician reported outcomes (ClinROs) and observer reported outcomes (ObsROs) and must be translated for people who are enrolled in different countries and speak different languages. 

  • Complex and diversified studies in global markets 
  • Bring value to your sponsors 
  • Patient recruitment and communication across the globe  
  • Regulatory compliance 
  • Time and cost pressures 
  • Data gathering and security 
  • Quality  

  1. Manage multilingual studies worldwide 
  2. Clinical trial translations  
    • Clinical trials 
    • Surveys 
    • Drug testing 
    • Regulatory approval dossiers 
    • Registration submission and review 
    • Marketing 
  3. Patient engagement and recruitment 
    • Linguists specialized in study engagement, marketing and education 
    • Web, brochures and multimedia training and elearning 
    • Interpretation 
    • Communication platforms 
  4. Linguistic validation 
    • eCOA 
    • Cognitive debriefs 
    • Clinician reviews 
    • Therapeutic areas 
  5. Study technology 
    • Customized for study and trial translations to address global deployment, real-time tracking, as well as transparency to costs, quality and process by study, region and language 
    • Secure systems compliant to local regulations 
  6. Flawless communication with stakeholders 
    • Ministries of Health, Ethics Committees, Regulatory Affairs departments, Drug Safety 
  7. Integration and connectivity of systems and processes 
    • API connectivity with internal systems  
    • Process centralization and streamlining (clinical operations, local affiliates and translation) 
Clinical Trials Translation: A Complex Linguistic Validation Workflow

At Acolad we understand that linguistic validation is a key element of international clinical trial processes and we follow a thorough workflow to guarantee the quality and accuracy of our translations. 

  • In their advanced steps, clinical trials involve multiple trials among large groups of people.  
  • Phase 3 of the clinical trial process usually involves thousands of participants, often across various countries 
  • It is critical to ensure that the translation is conceptually equivalent to the original content and culturally appropriate for the target market. 
  • Clinical trials are highly regulated and generate a huge volume of documents such as clinical outcome assessments (COAs), which require a complex workflow for translation and linguistic validation. 

Medical and In-Vitro Diagnostic Device Companies

Whether intended for clinical professionals or patients, medical devices always come with instructions, labels, packaging and other highly important content. High-quality translations help to ensure that these devices will be used correctly, and therefore safely and are compliant to local/regional regulatory requirements.  

  • Changing regulatory demands 
  • Development of product user documentation and labeling 
  • Increasing global markets and local requirements 

  1. Strategic understanding of global regulatory environment 
  2. Translation of user documentation and labeling 
    • IFUs (Instructions for Use) 
    • DFUs (Directions for Use) 
    • Maintenance & user manuals 
    • Packaging content 
    • UI and mobile apps 
    • Quick reference guides 
    • Product labeling 
  3. Global content strategies to achieve long term, scalable efficiencies 
  4. Content authoring  
  5. Staffing and business process outsourcing 
    • Labeling management 
    • Program management 
    • Systems administration 
    • BOM management 
    • Artwork specialist support  
  6. Technology – continuous localization through connectivity and automated workflow 
  7. Deployment of machine translation and other cutting-edge computer aided technology 
  8. Customer portal for easy access to KPIs, MT and other linguistic assets 
Patient Engagement

Your challenges 

  • Recruit and retain diverse study participants in target markets worldwide 
  • Engage with the patient through marketing, training, and educational content that is culturally and linguistically appropriate 
  • Reach your patient community remotely  
  • Support the patient through the healthcare journey 

How we support 

  • We provide linguists specialized in study engagement, marketing, and education located in-country, around the globe 
  • We support patient education through web platforms, brochures, and multimedia training and elearning 
  • We partner with leading technology companies to enable decentralized and remote studies and healthcare 
  • We provide a suite of interpretation services and platforms to enable patient communication in a remote setting 

Innovative changes to patient engagement group processes

Find out how we helped a Fortune 100 life sciences client achieve a 50% reduction in costs, and a 30% savings in the time typically needed to produce clinical trial study documents and patient engagement materials.

An uncompromising commitment to quality

At Acolad, quality standards and certifications represent our deep commitment to patient safety and international standards. We aim to go beyond compliance, continuously improving our global quality system to foster a climate of effectiveness, innovation, and high-quality products and services. 

Specialized Life Sciences translators

Expert linguists and project managers with specific Life Sciences expertise 

Linguist Certification

One of the most demanding systems in industry to qualify linguists

Life Sciences Processes

Quality resides in the process. That’s why Acolad has a fully-developed and comprehensive, multi-level approach to translation quality that allows us to cultivate quality at all stages of the production process. 

Life Sciences Optimized tools

For most clients, translation quality is subjective and intangible. That’s why we have cutting-edge translation technologies in place and a documented, reproducible method to measure and track translation quality. 

ISO Certifications and Quality Standards

Everything we do rests on the bedrock of our ISO certified processes and quality systems. We are certified to numerous industry- and business-specific ISO standards.

Tracking and Measurement (J2450 Standards)

Measurement and tracking of high quality to control and correct output


Translators who are experts in their field

Certified Life Sciences translators and a dedicated, expert project management team 

Our account managers, project managers and linguists maintain up-to-date knowledge of the medical industries’ regulations. Our project managers are responsible for training the team, monitoring compliance as well as adapting translation solutions and procedures to ICH, EDQM, MedDRA, MHRA, ISPOR, FDA, EMA standards.

Expertise 

  • In-country, native speaking translators  
  • Strong clinical background or active in the healthcare or clinical research industries

 

Dedicated Project Management Team

Our project managers with specific Life Sciences expertise:

  • Take care of every step of a project from contact to delivery

  • Understand the regulatory requirements of the Life Sciences industry

Recruitment 

  • Continuous translator recruitment, selection and evaluation process  
  • Capacity to respond to translation peaks and set-up tailor-made translation pools for each client 

 

Optimized Processes 

Our expert project managers: 

  • Define optimized workflows to account for regulatory or regional requirements  
  • Deploy best practices and tools for the most efficient workflows 

More Enterprise Solutions for Life Sciences Companies

Outsourcing & Localization Consulting

  • Localization BPO 
  • Localization Managed Services 
  • Language Consulting & Process Analysis 

Localization Services

  • Website & App  
  • Software & Systems 
  • Elearning & Training 
  • Multimedia 

Content Solutions

  • Global Content Strategy 
  • Multilingual SEO 
  • Content Creation & Transcreation 
  • Learning Services 

Digital Experience

  • Customer Experience 
  • Employee Experience 
  • Digital Business & Operations 

Find out how we can provide end-to-end language support for every phase of your products’ lifecycle

Connect with our Life Sciences team today!