Many new discoveries in Life Sciences cannot be translated into products, services or new applications to improve human health. Translational medicine, defined as "from bench to bedside", refers to the transfer of results or new knowledge achieved in the laboratory into health innovation. We aim to review the state of art of translational medicine, its relationship with innovation processes and the different perspectives to consider. Finally, we contextualize the situation of Research and Development (R&D) in Chile and the main issues of the biotechnology market in the country.