Matternet, the California developer of autonomous urban drone delivery systems, has expanded its UK medical drone delivery operations to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) in London, with the service transporting time-sensitive pathology samples to external laboratories to support faster diagnosis and treatment decisions.
image: Matternet
The service, launched in partnership with UK healthcare logistics company Apian, initially connects GOSH with nearby laboratories operated by The Doctors Laboratory (TDL). The partners plan to extend the network to additional sites, although no timetable has been announced.
The companies say the drone service can reduce urgent sample transport times by up to 90% compared with existing delivery methods. Faster transfers allow laboratories to begin testing sooner, although the overall time taken to return results will also depend on laboratory processing and clinical workflows.
The operation uses Matternet's M2 delivery drones, which carry medical payloads along pre-programmed routes. The aircraft can transport loads of up to 2kg over distances of up to 20km. Flights are overseen by a trained pilot and operate within airspace approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
The GOSH service follows the launch of Matternet's first UK NHS drone operations in April 2026, when the company and Apian began connecting hospital campuses in central London. The wider network is intended to provide an alternative to road-based couriers for the movement of diagnostic samples, medicines and other time-critical healthcare items.
Apian, which was founded by NHS doctors, combines autonomous drones, ground robotics and software to coordinate medical logistics. The company says its existing operations have delivered thousands of patient samples while reducing costs and carbon emissions compared with conventional courier transport.
Great Ormond Street said quicker movement of samples to laboratories could help clinical teams make diagnostic and treatment decisions more efficiently.
The network is part of a wider expansion of drone-based healthcare logistics in London, where services are being developed to move medical items between hospitals and laboratory facilities.