The company said the initiative aimed to reduce delivery time and cost as well as increase supply chain efficiencies as drone delivery is estimated to be five times more efficient than conventional delivery methods.
It said the first phase of the proof of concept (POC) of the project, code-named Project Eagle, successfully took place recently in Pulau Pangkor, Perak, which involved a distance of 4.2km from a jetty in Manjung to the Pangkor health clinic with about 3kg of medicine delivered for emergency medical treatment.
“The POC was the first longest-distance drone medical delivery of pharmaceutical products over water in Malaysia, led by a female pilot,” it said in a statement.
Pharmaniaga group managing director Zulkarnain Md Eusope said Project Eagle would bring the company one step closer to rolling out a large-scale programme for the delivery of vital medicines via drones.
“A normal mode of delivery using a ferry from the jetty in Manjung to the clinic in Pulau Pangkor will take approximately 30 minutes, as opposed to only 3.5 minutes when using the drone as demonstrated.
“Despite the unfavourable weather, as it was drizzling with poor visibility due to 100% cloud cover, Project Eagle in Pulau Pangkor was carried out successfully,” he said.
He said Project Eagle would continue with several more stages at different locations and terrains, including the remote areas in Sabah and Sarawak, and the findings from the project would be documented and submitted to the relevant ministries and government agencies.
Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram