Kidney Flown by Drone at 120 km/h in Transplant Test

In a groundbreaking preclinical test in western France, a kidney was transported by an autonomous electric drone at speeds of up to 120 km/h, covering 60 kilometers in approximately 35 minutes. The successful trial, conducted on July 7 between the University Hospital (CHU) of Nantes and the hospital of La Roche-sur-Yon, marks a European first for autonomous drone organ transport and opens new possibilities for revolutionizing transplant logistics.

A Leap Forward in Organ Transport

The test used a 100% electric autonomous drone built by Delivrone, a Rouen-based company specializing in medical drone transport. With a wingspan of 2.70 meters, the drone flew at an altitude of 80 meters, maintaining the kidney at a stable 4°C despite external temperatures approaching 32°C. The organ was designated for scientific research rather than transplantation into a human patient.

“The shorter the transport time, the faster the transplanted kidney will function again, and the greater the organ’s survival chances,” said Professor Julien Branchereau, a urologist and transplant surgeon at CHU de Nantes who led the experiment, as reported by Het Laatste Nieuws. “A quickly transplanted graft will restart faster and live longer.”

According to Le Figaro, the drone proved approximately twice as fast as a car traveling without traffic congestion — a critical advantage given that kidneys from deceased donors have a limited preservation window of up to 24 hours.

How the Test Unfolded

The drone, supervised remotely, followed a direct flight path between the two hospitals in the Loire-Atlantique region. Throughout the 36-minute journey, sensors monitored temperature and vibration levels to ensure the organ remained viable. The results were described as “particularly encouraging” by the medical team.

“The goal was to see if organ transport by drone is feasible and safe,” Professor Branchereau told Le Figaro. The preclinical trial was conducted in collaboration with the Centre de Recherche en Transplantation et Immunologie (CR2TI) affiliated with Inserm, France’s national health research institute.

Gautier Dhaussy, co-founder of Delivrone, noted that his company was contacted by the hospital team just over six months ago. “They were working on improving graft transport times,” he said, as reported by Le Figaro. “Our work is to mesh hospitals across the territory with an aerial network.”

A European First with Historical Context

While this test is being hailed as a “world first” by some Belgian media outlets, the first-ever drone delivery of a human kidney for transplant actually occurred in Baltimore, USA, in April 2019, when the University of Maryland transported a kidney 2.7 miles (4.3 km) in a 10-minute flight. Similar deliveries followed in Canada in 2019 and for a liver in the United States in 2020.

What makes the French test significant is its use of a fully autonomous electric drone over a much longer distance (60 km) at higher speeds, making it a European first for autonomous organ transport. A previous test in the same region in 2025 used a piloted thermal drone, whereas the 2026 trial represents a substantial technological upgrade.

What Comes Next

The hospitals plan to conduct further tests with human kidneys intended for actual transplantation. If successful, the goal is to expand the program to the national level in France, ultimately creating an aerial network connecting hospitals across the country for rapid organ transport.

“The objective is to perform transplantations with a delay where the kidney is preserved in the shortest possible time so it can be retransplanted,” Professor Branchereau explained, as reported by 7sur7.

Delivrone, founded in 2021, has already logged over 100,000 km of flight and more than 3,200 flights across France, primarily transporting blood samples, defibrillators, and medications. The company raised €4 million in funding in July 2025 and works with multiple French hospitals.

Challenges Ahead

Despite the promising results, several hurdles remain before drone organ transport becomes routine. Regulatory approval from French civil aviation authorities has been slow, with some commenters noting that authorization for similar medical drone flights has been pending for years. Weather dependency, payload limitations (current drones can carry only one organ at a time), and public acceptance are also factors that will need to be addressed.

Nevertheless, the technology holds particular promise for rural hospitals far from major transplant centers. With France’s centralized organ allocation system managed by the Agence de la Biomédecine, drone transport could be integrated into existing logistics networks, potentially saving lives by reducing the time between organ retrieval and transplantation.