Three questions for Erik Søndergaard Poulsen, Co-Founder of Cortrium
A closer look at the sales partnership between Cortrium and Pfizer
In 2017, Cortrium and Pfizer formed a marketing and sales partnership to distribute the C3⁺ Holter Monitor, a long-term wireless ECG for the detection of cardiac arrhythmias. The digital screenings and early detection of heart disorders have since helped thousands of patients, and the collaboration has become an example of a successful sales partnership between a pharmaceutical company and a medtech startup. Today, the Holter Monitor is a widely used e-health solution for the detection of atrial fibrillation.
We spoke with Erik Søndergaard Poulsen, one of Cortrium's founders, about how his startup is benefiting from this collaboration and asked him: What is it like to work with Pfizer?
The partnership between Pfizer and Cortrium has been going on for 5 years now – what were the important milestones and what happens next?
Erik Søndergaard Poulsen: "The most important milestone for us has been to ensure the product and service add value and works for the healthcare system in Germany. We have reached that milestone, but we will continue to improve the experience for the doctors and patients. As a next milestone, we are hoping to use the learnings from our partnership in other markets."
How do startups like Cortrium benefit from partnering with established pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer?
Erik Søndergaard Poulsen: "Cortrium has benefitted from the partnership in several ways. For one, the partnership has been a "stamp of approval" and helped Cortrium become recognized as a serious and important medical technology and service provider, which has been a factor in our successful fundraising campaigns. Our partnership has also helped us raise the bar to deliver the highest possible quality in any aspect of our services, from the quality of our ECG monitor and long-term ECG reports to our customer support."
What do you appreciate about working with Pfizer?
Erik Søndergaard Poulsen: "Pfizer has always been extremely professional and pleasant to work with. I appreciate the dedication and interest in making a partnership like this work. On several occasions, Pfizer has gone the extra mile for us and tried new setups and ways of collaborating, which is often challenging in large, established corporations."
Thank you for the interview, Mr. Poulsen!