This white paper was prepared in order to assess the opportunities and obstacles that confront us in facilitating a translational role for bioinformatics and systems biology in drug discovery and clinical medicine. The report represents the consensus outcome of Think Tank discussions among 23 invited world-leading experts in Barcelona, Spain, on October 2011. There is potential in sub-cellular (or molecular) systems biology approaches to biomedicine, as compared to conventional methods of drug design. Despite the early stage of these approaches, and lots still to be done, they may be able to assist in more personalised approaches to drug treatment. For translational systems biology to make a major impact, the whole system of data access needs to be transformed into one based on more openness and sharing of information between hospitals, academia and industry. Various societal structures currently impede this development. Regulatory and funding agencies must be involved to overcome these obstacles.