USA Drug Delivery by Zipline drone4 Feb 2021 15:35
Saw this article today and although related to vacccines, thought it was interesting because it involves delivery of drugs to remote regions in US and abroad. I hope someone at Synairgen is keeping an eye on novel distribution ideas like this, should it come to pass......
"Zipline Inc., a drone delivery service that specializes in medical supplies, announced Thursday that it plans to begin transporting COVID-19 vaccines in April. The South San Francisco-based startup said in a release that it is partnering with “a leading manufacturer of COVID-19 vaccines” in all of the markets where its drones currently operate. Zipline has been delivering medicine and supplies to rural clinics in Rwanda and Ghana since 2016 and, last year, began delivering personal protective equipment to hospitals and clinics in North Carolina. It plans to add operations in Nigeria later this year.
Zipline declined to specify its vaccine partner but said it has built a system that can deliver ultra-low temperature medical supplies, including “all leading COVID-19 vaccines.” The vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE must be stored in extreme cold at temperatures of negative 70 degrees Celsius, requiring special freezers. Zipline plans to add these ultra cold refrigerators at all of its distribution centers. Zipline’s fixed-wing, battery-powered drones navigate by GPS. They drop payloads of a few pounds each by parachute and can fly up to 100 miles round trip. A single distribution site can operate dozens of drones and supply an area of up to 8,000 square miles. The company says its drones have flown more than 4 million miles and made nearly 400,000 deliveries in the last five years.
“Any innovative option for delivering vaccines to rural communities is a great idea,” said Alan Morgan, chief executive officer at the National Rural Health Association. When Pfizer began rolling out its vaccine in December, Morgan feared that communities outside the reach of the ultra-cold supply chain would be left behind. So far, he says, that has not been the case, as rural clinics have been able to get deliveries packed in dry ice and get injections into arms quickly. “But once we start moving this into the general population,” he says, “getting to these small and remote towns is going to be an issue.”
Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo said the company wants to help rural areas that have been hard hit by the coronavirus. “Where you live shouldn’t determine whether or not you get a COVID-19 vaccine,” he said in the release. “We can help health systems bypass infrastructure and supply chain challenges through instant delivery.” (Bloomberg)
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