Having carried out successful trials since 2024, a UK pathology logistics services venture has announced its decision to expand the delivery of medical samples by drones across the areas it serves in London.
Synnovis major public-private joint venture partnership co-owned by SYNLAB UK & Ireland and two major NHS trusts: Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Two years ago, it partnered with healthcare logistics company Apian, delivering over 6,000 pathology samples between the Synnovis labs at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals, in south-east London.
The drone deliveries emit no harmful fumes during flight, and the samples were transported between sites in less than two minutes compared to more than half an hour by road.
With this apparent success, it may be no wonder that Synnovis wants to continue the strategic partnership with Apian, to further develop the use of drones and autonomous robotics in pathology logistics.
“We’re delighted to have extended our collaboration with Synnovis, Apian’s first pathology partner in the UK, and to further advance the use of autonomous logistics into laboratory medicine,” said Alexander Trewby, Co-Founder and CEO of Apian.
“We’re looking forward to exploring an exciting future together. Healthcare will ultimately be enabled by fleets of autonomous systems. Our role is to provide the orchestration layer that connects those systems with clinical operations.”
This collaboration will improve the speed, resilience and cost effectiveness of sample delivery to better support our customers and partners, according to a statement released by SYNLAB, one of the Synnovis consortium partners.
This autumn, Synnovis will expand its use of drone logistics, with Apian deploying Matternet drones to transport urgent samples in London, from both Guy’s Hospital and St Thomas’ Hospital for specialist testing at the Synnovis Blackfriars laboratory hub.
“Working with Apian to implement drone delivery allows us to extend innovation beyond the lab and into the entire sample pathway,” said Professor Dominic Harrington, Chief Scientific Officer, SYNLAB UK & Ireland.
“Our Blackfriars hub analyses 20,000 samples each day, and each one of those samples represents a patient. Efficient logistics are key to enabling us to provide a successful service for every patient we serve.
“Extending our drone network will help us ensure we get the right samples, to the right place, at the right time to support clinicians and their patients when they need it most. This partnership with Apian puts us at the forefront of pathology logistics.”
As Synnovis explains, the first of these flights will carry bone marrow samples critical for the diagnosis and monitoring of blood disorders such as acute leukaemia, including for paediatric patients treated at Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
“The enhanced speed of sample delivery will allow scientists across Synnovis, one of SYNLAB UK & Ireland’s four NHS partnerships, to provide results more quickly and support well-informed patient care,” the SYNLAB statement said.
“The expanded drone delivery service will include new use cases and represents a significant milestone in autonomous logistics, with plans for routes to serve additional Synnovis customers underway.”
Mark Dollar, CEO, SYNLAB UK & Ireland said; “This partnership builds on several years of collaboration with Apian, including on this pioneering medical drone project, and marks an important milestone.
“It represents a strategic investment which will allow us to explore innovation opportunities in robotics, AI and autonomous logistics across both Synnovis and the wider SYNLAB Group.”