“The key beneficiaries of this innovative project are the patients, who will be able to get their results the same day for 76% of the test arrays available in the MedLife laboratories. On medium to long term, MedLife Group is considering the implementation of the drone transportation system on a national level, and also the expansion of the product range for air transportation,” the group said in its report.
MedLife has a market capitalization of RON2.3 billion. It did not say how much the investment was worth but said it was made in partnership with Skyy Network, an Australian company with a comprehensive experience in manned and unmanned aviation, whose focus is on drone integration services and solutions in companies’ business processes.
MedLife says it therefore becomes the first private medical operator in Romania and in Central and Eastern Europe to use drones for the transport of laboratory samples, and one of the few European medical operators that will usually transport biological samples over medium and long distances.
In the beginning, the transports will be carried out from four cities in Bihor County (Alesd, Beius, Marghita, Salonta) to Oradea and Arad, following that in the upcoming future, the project to be expanded nationwide. With a 120-kilometer length, the route between Oradea and Arad is currently the longest drone flight route for medical samples in Europe, the transport being completed in less than an hour.
The MedLife project has the approval of the Romanian Civil Aeronautic Authority (RoCAA), as well as of the Public Health Directorate in Bihor and Arad Counties and of the Ministry of National Defense. After almost three months of tests and preparations, the first flights with real samples from patients have already been carried out.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)