Animal Health · Diagnostics · Life Sciences
I started in Consumer Healthcare, built international brands at Wyeth, then spent twenty years running large commercial businesses at Pfizer/Zoetis and IDEXX Laboratories. Today I advise investors and companies who want someone who has actually done it.
About
I'm Wim Van Cotthem. I started in Consumer Healthcare in 1992, first in OTC product management at Qualiphar and then leading international marketing for Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, including the global Centrum brand. That gave me a solid grounding in brand building, consumer marketing and what it takes to grow a product across many markets at the same time.
In 2004 I moved into Animal Health, joining Pfizer Animal Health where I ran a large regional commercial business across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, including through the Pfizer/Zoetis separation. I then led the global Livestock, Poultry and Dairy business at IDEXX Laboratories for ten years.
Not many people have worked seriously in both Consumer Healthcare and Animal Health at senior level. That background is what makes me useful to companies and investors who operate across those worlds or need someone who understands the full picture.
Over three decades I have also built a network of senior professionals I know and trust across Animal Health, Diagnostics, Consumer Healthcare and Life Sciences. When a project calls for more than one kind of expertise, whether in regulatory affairs, manufacturing, digital diagnostics or regional market access, I can bring the right people together and coordinate the work. The client works with me, and I take responsibility for what gets delivered.
What I do
I help PE investors understand what they are really buying before they buy it. I read the commercial reality of a target, not just the numbers.
For companies that are not growing as fast as they should be, or that need to rethink how they go to market in Europe or internationally.
A senior sounding board for leadership teams dealing with a major decision, a difficult transition, or a situation where outside experience helps.
Sometimes you need someone to step in and actually run something, not just advise on it. I take on interim commercial leadership roles at Director, VP or MD level in Animal Health and Diagnostics.
A defined question and a clear deliverable: a commercial assessment, a growth plan, a market entry review. Scope and fee agreed up front.
Hands-on leadership inside your organisation, on site where it matters, with a clear handover to the permanent team at the end.
A senior sounding board for a CEO, leadership team, board or portfolio company, over a longer period and with regular contact.
Career
In practice
Financial due diligence tells you what a company has done. I tell you whether it will hold up. I know the distribution structures, the key accounts, the market dynamics and the regulatory environment in this sector. That is as relevant for a pure Animal Health business as it is for a company that also touches Consumer Healthcare or Life Sciences nutrition.
In my experience, growth problems in this sector are rarely about the product. They are usually about the route to market, the pricing model, the sales approach or the wrong priorities. I have seen this at Zoetis, at IDEXX and in markets across Europe, Africa and beyond.
I have been through a merger, a major corporate separation, multiple market entries and more than a few situations where the right answer was not obvious. I know what it is like to make a large call with limited time and imperfect information. I bring that experience to the conversation.
I step in at Director, VP or MD level, take responsibility and run the business. I pick up quickly in organisations I have not worked in before and I am used to making decisions with the team I find, not the team I would have chosen. The business keeps moving while the search takes its time.
Over thirty years in this sector I have built relationships with senior professionals across Animal Health, Diagnostics, Consumer Healthcare, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and market access. I know who is good, who is available and who will fit the project. When the work calls for more than one perspective, I bring the right people in and coordinate the team. The client has one point of contact.
Contact
If you are working on something in Animal Health, Diagnostics or Life Sciences and think it would be useful to talk, I am happy to have a first conversation. No commitment, no pitch.