Drones

Supply of medical drones within the USA: Wingcopter and Spright

Wingcopter signs contract with Spright to supply medical drones in the United States

by DRONELIFE author Ian M. Crosby

German drone delivery pioneer Wingcopter has announced a new commercial agreement with Air Methods subsidiary Spright. The agreement, valued at more than $16 million, sees Spright acquiring a large fleet of Wingcopter’s new flagship delivery drone, the Wingcopter 198, to meet increasing demand for medical drone delivery solutions across the country. The agreement establishes Wingcopter as Spright’s exclusive provider of fixed-wing eVTOL delivery drone technology for operations in the United States. Meanwhile, Spright will become the sole provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) for the Wingcopter 198 to US-based third-party vendors.

Founded in 2020 as the new drone division of aeromedical provider Air Methods, Spright serves to improve access to healthcare in the United States by building a drone-based, healthcare-specific delivery network. Leveraging an existing infrastructure of over 300 bases, Spright serves hundreds of hospitals in 48 states in mostly rural areas.

This new agreement solidifies the strategic partnership established between the two companies over the past year. Spright works closely with Wingcopter in its FAA UAS type certification process, leveraging the Spright team’s extensive aviation experience operating FAA 121 and 135 airlines, its existing Part 135 certificate (Flight Service on Demand), SMS (Safety Management System) program and existing relationships with the FAA.

Spright is working with the Hutchinson Regional Health System on initial testing in Hutchinson, Kansas, and plans to expand the service beyond Kansas with additional strategic medical projects later this year. The acquisition of the Wingcopter fleet will serve to further expand access to healthcare in rural and underserved communities by delivering vital medical supplies, medicines, vaccines, blood and laboratory samples between medical facilities promptly and on-demand, improving the quality of care with faster turnaround time of laboratory samples and more targeted treatments for patients. The Wingcopter electric cargo drones will also reduce the medical industry’s carbon footprint and contribute to greener and more sustainable supply chains with more efficient delivery times.

“We are fortunate to have Wingcopter on board as our aircraft technology partner,” said Spright President Joseph Resnik. “With its industry-leading eVTOL aircraft design, Wingcopter brings a level of maturity needed to meet the complex and diverse needs of the US healthcare market. We are confident that our combined strengths will deliver innovative, time-saving solutions to meet the needs of our customers and their communities.”

“This multi-million dollar commercial agreement with Spright is clear evidence that the Wingcopter 198 is a perfect fit for the product and market,” said Tom Plümmer, co-founder and CEO of Wingcopter. “We are proud to enable large-scale drone delivery in the United States with this strong partnership. The projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the drone delivery market of more than 50% to a total volume of nearly US$40 billion in 2030 underscores the rapid adoption of eVTOL technology for last-mile logistics. We are excited to be at the forefront of this rapidly growing market alongside Spright.”

Wingcopter and Spright will be exhibiting the Wingcopter 198 delivery drone at the Manifest logistics tech conference in Las Vegas, with an opportunity to meet with C-level executives from both companies in person. The conference will take place from January 25th to 27th, 2022.

Ian attended Dominican University of California where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling, and a keen interest in technology, he now contributes to DroneLife as a staff writer.

Miriam McNabb is Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a marketplace for professional drone services, and is a fascinated observer of the burgeoning drone industry and drone regulatory environment. Miriam has authored over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam graduated from the University of Chicago and has over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for emerging technologies.
For advice or writing in the drone industry email Miriam.

Twitter: @spaldingbarker

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