Matternet has partnered with TransLogic, Swisslog Healthcare’s hospital transport-automation business, to connect autonomous drone delivery between medical facilities with pneumatic-tube networks inside hospitals. Announced on 29 October, the arrangement makes TransLogic’s sales team a distribution channel for Matternet’s next-generation M3 system. TransLogic’s existing customer base includes more than 2,300 North American hospitals and over 3,000 worldwide; the companies target initial hospital projects in California, Florida and Arizona during the partnership’s first year.
The proposed network would move medication, laboratory specimens and urgent supplies between hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies and clinics, then transfer shipments into a hospital’s internal transport system. TransLogic supplies automated transport inside buildings, while Matternet’s aircraft cover journeys between facilities that would otherwise use ground couriers. The partners will also explore installation, support and maintenance services, including using Swisslog Healthcare’s field-service organisation to install Matternet infrastructure.
Matternet introduced M3 on 28 September as an unattended delivery system comprising an aircraft, a charging and storage dock, and a package-handling portal. Its design targets include payloads up to 11lb within a 10-mile service radius. The dock can be installed on rooftops or at ground level, while the off-grid portal accepts multiple packages for asynchronous collection. Matternet targets commercial service in the second half of 2027, subject to development, testing and regulatory approvals.
The company’s existing M2 platform holds US Federal Aviation Administration type and production certification. M3 remains in development, with certification among the steps needed for commercial operation. Matternet has operated healthcare drone routes in Europe since 2017 and in the US since 2019, transporting laboratory samples, vaccines, pathology specimens and specialist pharmaceuticals. Its September launch release also named Apian as an M3 launch partner in the UK, where the companies already operate a National Health Service delivery network in central London.
