Revolutionizing Medication Management: Popit's Journey into Colombia

Founded in 2017, Popit Ltd has risen as a leading provider of digital medication adherence platforms. Based in Espoo, Finland, known for its innovation, Popit thrives as part of a dynamic startup scene. In this week's interview, we talk with Popit's Co-founder, CEO to delve into the company's journey in Latin America.

Can you provide a brief overview of Popit and its mission?

50% of patients do not take medications as prescribed. This causes significant avoidable costs for healthcare payers, but most importantly, patients are not getting the best possible treatment outcomes. Popit makes medication connected with a unique solution so it would be easier for patients and their caregivers to keep track of doses consumed.

What product is Popit introducing to Colombia, and what drove its interest in expanding there?

Colombia is one of Latin America’s largest markets, and there is tremendous opportunity to digitalize the healthcare industry. Now is a good time to enter the market together with a large multinational pharmaceutical company. Popit's platform tracks how medication is consumed by using a small sensor device called Popit Sense. The solution sends the information to a smartphone app that keeps the patient informed of doses taken and supports the patient’s commitment to therapy.

How does Popit meet healthcare needs in Colombia, and what innovative features does its solution provide?

The dosing data gathered by Popit’s solution can be made available to healthcare professionals and caregivers. Through this digitalization of dosing data, the patient’s care team can also be kept informed remotely. The small sensor device, Popit Sense, is attached onto a regular medication blister that you get from the pharmacy. The patented sensor technology detects medication intake automatically, eliminating the need for manual record-keeping by the patient. This kind of convenience and seamlessness is appreciated by patients, and it also works much better than reminder apps and pillboxes.

How will Popit's presence benefit healthcare in Colombia, and what are its goals for entering this new market?

The Colombian healthcare coverage is already of very high quality. Out-of-pocket spending is among the lowest in the world but there is work to be done with how patients commit to taking medications, especially with cardiovascular treatment, which has been estimated to be the cause of 40% of deaths in Colombia. We’d like to help in tackling the problem of non-adherence so patients get the treatment outcomes they deserve. We have to take it step by step. Even a single percentage point improvement in adherence will contribute to better treatment outcomes and patient benefits. We hope to be a part of Colombia’s effort to make the healthcare system more accessible and efficient by providing something that’s been unavailable before: data on how regular patients take doses.

We would like to get our product into the hands of regular people through local Colombian partners, such as a large pharmacy chain. This would be our primary goal besides seeking for new pharma collaborations in Colombia.

How is Popit addressing challenges and adapting its product for the Colombian market, considering regulatory, cultural, and strategic factors?

Initially we have been looking for strong local partners who can help in establishing the first commercial partnership(s). After that we widen the scope and look for other customers – and also industries – who benefit from digitized medication consumption data.

Besides the fairly routine effort of translating the solution, it’s been important to also consider the local radio certification requirements and especially the medical device legislation. But all this is quite technical and there are also human factors in play. We’ve been discussing with the local customer about the best ways on how to say certain things in our app, so it sounds natural and fits the culture. As to the regulatory side, we’ve received guidance from Team Finland and also done a lot of homework ourselves

What are Popit's aspirations for Colombia and any plans for further expansion in Latin America or beyond?

They can come from pharma, pharmacy, care provider, insurance or even public health. We’d like to be a provider of medication consumption data for the Colombian healthcare sector so treatment outcomes are improved and money is saved. We’re highly interested in the Latin American region and have already witnessed the several possibilities to grow there. We also see big opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region and especially Japan and Australia.

How has collaboration with Team Finland facilitated Popit's international growth strategy?

Team Finland has been extremely helpful in helping us understand the local market and its opportunities. It’s like having a local consultant whose job it is to be on your side. We get information about opportunities for public funding and other possibilities that we’d otherwise miss. In addition to having boots-on-the-ground sharing insights about the local legal and commercial environment, the collaboration saves us time when we don’t need to do all research and opportunity hunting ourselves. Additionally, Team Finland crew’s personal networks have been really helpful door-openers.

Any final thoughts or messages for readers interested in Popit's products or international expansion efforts?

In addition to commercial collaboration, we’re also interested in contributing to academic research with our solution. So if you represent a university or a research institute doing studies involving oral solid drugs, do get in touch!

For more information please visit Popit´s website here.