Pharmaniaga Using Drone On Trial To Deliver Medicines

Pharmaniaga Bhd is using unmanned aerial vehicles or drones on trial to deliver pharmaceutical-grade medical supplies involving deliveries from a jetty in Manjung to a clinic in Pangkor.

In a statement today, it says, “We want to improve its logistics capabilities and make healthcare services more accessible, particularly to remote areas, while maintaining the safety, integrity, and quality of the medicines”.

This plan is designed after being considered to serve the purpose of lowering the time and cost of delivery as well as making it more efficient delivery services by using drones after comparing it to current delivery methods.

“The plan is 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 says.

According to Pharmaniaga, the first phase of this project’s proof of concept, Project Eagle, was completed recently in Pulau Pangkor, Perak, and involved a distance of 4.2 kilometres from a jetty in Manjung to Klinik Kesihatan Pangkor, with approximately 3 kilogrammes of medicines delivered for emergency medical treatment.

Pharmaniaga group managing director Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope said Project Eagle would bring the group one step closer to implementing a large-scale drone-delivered medicine programme.

“A normal mode of delivery using a ferry from the jetty in Manjung to the clinic on Pulau Pangkor will take approximately 30 minutes, whereas using the drone as demonstrated will take only 3.5 minutes.”

“When it comes to delivering products to difficult-to-reach locations, drone technology outperforms traditional logistics in terms of performance and cost-effectiveness,” he said.

He also adds Project Eagle will continue with several more stages in various locations and terrains, including remote areas in Sabah and Sarawak,

The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre, Technology Park Malaysia, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia, Boustead Holdings Bhd, and Meraque Services Sdn Bhd are all supporting Project Eagle.

Pharmaniaga closed at 80.5 sen at the midday break on Monday, valuing the company at RM1.06 billion.

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