WYOMING – United Parcel Service [UPS] working with partner CVS Pharmacy and technology development firm Matternet, is advancing a door-to-door program for the delivery of prescription drugs direct to customer’s doorsteps via newly deployed commercial drones.
As of November 1, two paying customers received UPS delivered medications using the Matternet M2 drone system.
The logistical evolution is part ‘n parcel to new parcel service initiative “UPS Flight Forward” a division dedicated to autonomous drone delivery, and both moves by UPS come in the wake of last month’s Federal Aviation Administration[FAA] approval to fly the company’s fleet of commercial drones.
The inaugural drone deliveries contained prescriptions filled by CVS pharmacists at Cary, NC. UPS employees loaded the drone’s cargo, the vehicle flew autonomously from store location to the customer’s residence to drop it package from a hover height of 20 feet.
UPS had employed drones in a healthcare setting while working beside Matternet and WakeMed Hospital to perform business-to-business commercial deliveries in Raleigh, NC. With ‘greenlight’ given by the FAA, UPS now aims to up commercial drone presence on an increasing scale.
