Machine translation for pharmacovigilance
Case study
Overview
ICON Language Services was tasked with translating medical reports and individual case review (ICR) forms in five languages for a Top 5 pharma company using machine translation post editing (MTPE) methodology.
Sponsor goals and success criteria:
- Usability of translated content - accurate and high quality
- Timelines - turnaround time of 1-2 business days
- File transfer - process handled in a good practice (GxP) compliant environment
- Collaboration - ease of working with ICON Language Services
Solutions
- ICON Language Services set up a GxP validated workflow using Box
- Internal communications were streamlined to accommodate tight turnaround times
- “Follow the sun” model for support in real time across time zones
- Dedicated project management team
- Pool of dedicated subject matter experts as post-editors
Outcomes
The sponsor was highly satisfied with the quality and usability of the deliverables. Overall quality scores after MTPE were above 99% for all languages with zero critical errors reported. The raw machine translation quality scores, before any human postediting, demonstrated good quality, making it a viable option when translation time is limited.
Highlights
Efficiency: High quality of MTPE output of over 99% across all languages leads to elimination of an extra round of revision by a human that was initially requested as part of the project.
Speed: MTPE timelines of 24 – 48 hours
Quality: Zero critical errors
Technology: The quality of the raw machine translation of over 75% for four out of five of the languages in scope provides a positive indication of robust AI engines.
Timelines
- All requests below 11,000 words were delivered within the agreed 1-2 business days
- Non-editable source PDF files over 11,000 words were delivered in 3 business days
- Non-editable source PDF files over 28,000 words were delivered in 4 business days