• Zipline, a drone-based medical supplies delivery company, has partnered with healthcare products distributor Cardinal Health to deliver pharmaceutical and medical products to retail pharmacy locations in Kannapolis, North Carolina—where Zipline’s distribution hub is located.

• The company plans to commence the pilot program next year once it receives approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

• Initially, the companies will conduct test flights to a single undisclosed pharmacy location in the area, promising delivery within 15–30 minutes. Depending on the success of the tests, the partnership could expand to include 60,000 pharmacies across the US, served by Cardinal Health.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: This would be the second drone-based delivery program Zipline conducts in Kannapolis, following its first temporary project in partnership with Novant Health in May 2020. Despite having primary operations in Africa, the company also has several other partnerships for various delivery projects in the US. These include a partnership with Intermountain Healthcare to commence deliveries in Salt Lake City, Utah (announced last week) , and with Walmart (September 2020) to trial deliveries in Bentonville, Arkansas. Zipline’s peers Matternet, Flytrex, and Volansi have also conducted drone-based deliveries in North Carolina in partnership with third parties.</ul>