College Station, Texas – Amazon Pharmacy is revolutionizing medication delivery by launching a new service that enables customers in College Station, Texas to receive their prescription medications within 60 minutes via Amazon’s drone delivery service at no extra cost. Eligible Amazon Pharmacy customers can choose “free drone delivery in less than 60 minutes” at checkout, and a pharmacist will oversee the loading and transportation of medications to the customer’s doorstep within the hour. College Station residents utilizing drone delivery will have access to over 500 medications for common conditions, including flu, asthma, and pneumonia.
Dr. Vin Gupta, chief medical officer of Amazon Pharmacy, emphasized the importance of the “golden window” in clinical medicine, which spans the time between when a patient feels unwell and when they receive treatment. He stated, “We’re working hard at Amazon to dramatically narrow the golden window from diagnosis to treatment, and drone delivery marks a significant step forward. Whether it’s an infectious disease or respiratory illness, early intervention can be critical to improving patient outcomes.”
Amazon’s drones operate at altitudes ranging from 40 to 120 meters, flying in airspace with minimal obstacles. Equipped with sense-and-avoid technology, these drones use sensors and cameras to navigate around people, pets, and power lines.
The drones incorporate cameras that feed into a neural network trained to identify objects. Upon reaching the customer’s residence, the drone carefully lowers itself above a designated delivery marker. Computer vision technology checks for any obstructions on the descent path, such as structures, people, or animals, ensuring a safe delivery. Once the delivery zone is clear, the drone releases the package, ascends back to its operating altitude, and returns to the delivery center. Customers can retrieve their packages without any direct interaction with the drone.
Amazon is among the few drone delivery companies that have earned a Federal Aviation Administration air carrier certificate, a requirement for operating drones with advanced capabilities. Since December 2022, Amazon’s drones have successfully delivered hundreds of household items in College Station.
This move by Amazon Pharmacy follows a period of uncertainty for drone delivery research programs initiated by the company, which saw most of its Amazon Prime Air staff in the UK laid off around 2021. Many large companies have been exploring drone delivery methods with no considerable success. It remains to be seen how Amazon’s latest initiative will fare in the near future.
