As it begins to beta-test its app that encourages stricter adherence to drug prescriptions, HealthQR is getting a boost from one of the world’s largest drug companies, Pfizer of New York.

HealthQR, which works out of the Volta startup centre in Halifax, has been in talks with several major drug providers with the hope of helping them ensure their customers take their meds when they’re supposed to.

Those talks continue, but Pfizer recently came on board and is working with the Halifax company in a paid beta test. The reason the startup is gaining attention is it has developed an online product that lets people work with their pharmacies to improve the use of drugs.

“Partnering with Pfizer is an incredible opportunity,” said co-founder and CEO Patti Ryan in an email. “Together we will evaluate the effectiveness of our mobile health app in improving medication adherence and helping individuals better manage their medications and their health. Having Pfizer on board validates our business case and will open doors for other partnerships as we move forward.”

HealthQR is mainly targeting the estimated 29 million people in North America between 50 and 64 who have a chronic illness and a smartphone.

Ryan, her co-founder Michael Fanning and chief technology officer Steve MacDonald have developed a mobile app that works with pharmacies to track a customer’s prescription history. Working with pharmacies is a key part of the business model because they are not regulated so HealthQR can get to market relatively quickly.

The app begins to track the prescription as soon as the patient receives it, and monitors the various phases of the prescription process: filling it, the taking of the drug and refilling or renewing the prescription. It also reminds the patient when the medication needs to be taken.

The goal is to work with the patient to ensure he or she adheres to the terms of the prescription by taking the drug the right number of times each day.

That’s important because half of all patients are said to not complete their prescriptions, and non-adherence to medication programs costs the health system in the United States an estimated $188 billion each year.

Because it is a software-as-a-service product that integrates with the pharmacy’s IT system, there is little manual input needed as most of the information is drawn from the pharmacy itself.

HealthQR has completed a closed alpha test with a few collaborators, and it is undergoing beta tests now. The company continues to talk with other drug companies about using the product. It so far has raised $150,000 in capital from its co-founders and one angel investor, and is now looking for seed investment of about $2 million.

It hopes to use the money to build its team, conduct some tests in the U.S. and continue to gain customers in Canada.

“The time is now,” Ryan said last week at the Atlantic Venture Forum in Halifax. “We’re witnessing the consumerization of the health industry and extremely high rates of chronic illness.”