MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & WESTMINSTER, Colo., Oct 29 –TransLogic, a Swisslog Healthcare company and a leading supplier in transport automation for hospitals, and Matternet, Inc. (OTCQB: MTTN), a leading developer of autonomous drone networks for ultra-fast, low-cost, and zero-emissions delivery, have partnered to close the last-mile gap in hospital logistics. For the first time, healthcare systems will gain access to a single automated transportation network that extends from the pneumatic tube station inside a hospital to the satellite facilities outside it, replacing fragmented manual deliveries.
A New Standard for Hospital Logistics
Until now, hospitals have managed the movement of medications, laboratory specimens, and critical supplies in two disconnected ways. Swisslog Healthcare automates delivery inside hospital buildings through pneumatic tube systems, pharmacy automation, and specimen tracking. Matternet automates the same movement between facilities by air.
“For years, hospitals have automated what happens inside their walls. This partnership extends that automation to everything outside them,” said Cory Kwarta, CEO of Swisslog Healthcare. “Connecting our network with Matternet’s aerial delivery platform is a meaningful step forward for hospitals and the patients they serve.”
Partnership Details
During the first year of the partnership, the two companies will work together to bring drone delivery to hospital systems in California, Florida, and Arizona. The collaboration centers on Matternet’s next-generation M3 drone delivery platform, which carries packages up to 11 pounds within a 10-mile service radius and operates fully autonomously. Between flights, the M3 Aircraft is stored and charged in the compact M3 Dock, which can be installed on a hospital rooftop or other underutilized space. Deployed across a health system, Matternet’s M3 drone delivery system complements Swisslog’s tube network, connecting hospitals, labs, pharmacies, and clinics into a single on-demand delivery network. Matternet has operated drone delivery for health systems since 2017 in Europe and 2019 in the U.S., transporting lab samples, vaccines, pathology specimens, specialty pharmaceuticals, and a continuously expanding set of payload types.
As part of the agreement, the TransLogic sales team will serve as a distribution channel for M3 systems into TransLogic’s established customer base of 3,000+ hospitals globally, including more than 2,300 in North America. Every day, major hospitals need to move hundreds of small packages—like medications, laboratory specimens, and supplies—urgently between facilities, often relying on ground couriers that can be costly and slow. With this partnership, Matternet’s goal is to help make drone delivery available to every hospital across the country, moving items across healthcare campuses and beyond. The two companies will also explore expanding the partnership to include installation, support, and maintenance services, with Swisslog Healthcare’s field service organization performing installation work for Matternet infrastructure at hospital sites.
Expanding the Reach of Drone Delivery
“Swisslog Healthcare has been a leader in automated hospital transport for decades. This partnership gives us the ability to bring the benefits of drone delivery directly into the more than 3,000 hospitals worldwide that depend on Swisslog tube systems,” said Andreas Raptopoulos, Founder and CEO of Matternet. “A lab specimen may be shipped from a remote clinic to a central lab by a drone and then travel by pneumatic tube inside a hospital to its destination. End-to-end automation will define the future of hospital logistics.”