medical drones

Rwanda launches nationwide drone delivery service with Zipline

What began six years ago as a small pilot program using drones to deliver blood in remote areas of Rwanda has now evolved into a first-of-its-kind nationwide drone delivery network.

On Thursday, Bay Area-based drone delivery firm Zipline and the government of Rwanda announced a new partnership that will grant the company medical delivery service access to every single resident and household in the country.

The new partnership will triple Rwanda’s drone delivery volume by adding new delivery sites...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rwanda-launches-nationwide-drone-delivery-service-with-zipline

Zipline begins medical drone deliveries in Utah

Zipline drone delivery medical supplies prescriptions

There are two pet peeves that just about every sick person has in common: a trip to the doctor’s office and a trip to the pharmacy. 

The first problem has been addressed by services like telehealth, which take the visit out of the doctor’s visit. But unless you live next door to a pharmacy, you will probably still need to get dressed and go for a drive.

Unless you live in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley.

This week, drone delivery firm Zipline began flying commercially in the region with Intermountain...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/zipline-begins-medical-drone-deliveries-in-utah

Zipline partners with MultiCare on drone delivery to hospitals, doctors’ offices

Zipline medical delivery drone

Drones are going to the emergency room.

Through its latest partnership, drone delivery firm Zipline will airdrop medical supplies like lab samples, medications and test kits to hospitals, laboratories and doctors’ offices in Tacoma, Washington. Zipline will work with nonprofit organization MultiCare Health Systems, which operates a network of medical facilities in the area. 

The arrangement aims to create an on-demand delivery model for MultiCare’s providers using electric, autonomous aircraft....

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/zipline-partners-with-multicare-on-drone-delivery-to-hospitals-doctors-offices

Zipline adds to US drone delivery footprint with North Carolina expansion

Zipline drone delivery package

Less than a week after securing a Part 135 air carrier certification from the Federal Aviation Administration, drone delivery firm Zipline is putting its new credentials to work.

The Bay Area-based company on Tuesday announced its commercial expansion into North Carolina, where it began delivering medical products such as prescriptions and personal protective equipment last week. To start, deliveries are servicing a 7,800 square mile area out of Zipline’s distribution hub in Kannapolis.

Of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/zipline-adds-to-us-drone-delivery-footprint-with-north-carolina-expansion

Wingcopter to deploy 12,000 delivery drones across sub-Saharan Africa

Wingcopter medical delivery drone flying over Africa

Though it has its fair share of skeptics, drone delivery looks to be very much a part of the future of the final mile. And soon, it may face its biggest test yet.

German drone delivery firm Wingcopter announced this week a partnership with Continental Drones Ltd. to build a network of 12,000 Wingcopter 198 drones across Africa over the next five years. Once completed, the new service would become the largest commercial delivery drone deployment in the world.

“Together with Wingcopter, we are...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/wingcopter-to-deploy-12000-delivery-drones-across-sub-saharan-africa

Can drones be the aspirin for pharma supply chain headaches?

A trio of companies are aiming to integrate autonomous drones into the global pharmaceutical and healthcare industries

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, health care workers have been under siege. Supply chain disruptions have limited access to everything from personal protective equipment to vaccines for both COVID-related illnesses and familiar diseases like the flu, at a time when the globe needs them most.

Seeing those disruptions, a trio of companies — Melbourne, Australia-based Swoop Aero, London’s Skyports and Kelberg, Germany-headquartered BD Rowa — are joining forces to open up an air-based...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/can-drones-be-the-aspirin-for-pharma-supply-chain-headaches

Wingcopter inks $16M deal with Spright for US medical drone deliveries

Wingcopter and Spright ink $16 million deal for medical drone delivery network

U.S. hospitals are in the midst of a massive shortage. Everything from latex gloves to lab testing equipment is in short supply at a time when demand is pushing the hospital system to its limit — as of Monday, nearly 80% of all U.S. inpatient hospital beds were in use, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

With no end in sight to the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting equipment shortages, can drones deliver? Wingcopter is betting that they can. The German...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/wingcopter-inks-16m-deal-with-spright-for-us-medical-drone-deliveries

Is drone racing the next bastion of innovation?

Draganfly and the Drone Racing League (DRL) are launching DRL Labs to test new drone innovations

Neon lights. A labyrinth of obstacles. Socially distanced, goggle-wearing athletes. With much of the sporting world put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new global sport emerged from the shadows, and you’ve probably never seen anything like it.

Drone racing is very real, and it existed before the pandemic, with the sport’s premier league, the Drone Racing League (DRL), launching in 2015. But COVID-19 has taken it to new heights –– the DRL now boasts ​​over 250 million fans worldwide who...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/is-drone-racing-the-next-bastion-of-innovation

Elroy Air, AYR Logistics partner to use drones for humanitarian aid

Elroy Air partners with AYR Logistics to deploy drones to deliver humanitarian aid

One of the biggest barriers to global humanitarian aid efforts is and has always been access. There’s only so much an organization like the United Nations can do when up against bureaucratic restrictions, thefts of humanitarian assets in transit and, crucially, weak transportation infrastructure.

“More than a billion people are disconnected from reliable roadways,” Kofi Asante, vice president of strategy and business development for drone maker Elroy Air, told eVTOL.com. “That means if you were...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/elroy-air-ayr-logistics-partner-to-use-drones-for-humanitarian-aid