From Greenshot to Global Impact: Pacto Medical and Rune Aero's Innovative Approach to Sustainable Medical Logistics

In 2024, Pacto Medical and Rune Aero, two startups with a shared commitment to sustainable solutions, connected through Dartmouth's Greenshot Climate Accelerator. Pacto Medical is innovating prefilled syringes to minimize their environmental footprint and streamline supply chain logistics. They recently celebrated closing a new round of funding and securing their patents. Meanwhile, Rune Aero is developing autonomous, hybrid-electric aircraft for middle-mile cargo delivery. Recognizing the potential for powerful synergies, the two companies have since joined forces to show how they can collectively revolutionize low-carbon access to critical medical products. 

We spoke with Robert Halvorsen, CTO and Co-Founder at Pacto Medical and Nadine Auda, Co-Founder at Rune Aero, to delve deeper into their work.

Question: What specific aspects of each other's vision and approach initially sparked your interest in one another's work?

Robert Halvorsen, Pacto Medical: "When we first met at the Greenshot Climate Tech Accelerator, it was immediately clear that we were solving different pieces of the same puzzle. Pacto was working on making medical packaging dramatically smaller and lighter, while Rune was tackling the carbon footprint of transport. The synergy was obvious — what we shrink, they can move more efficiently."

Nadine Auda, Rune Aero: "Exactly. We've always seen logistics as a systems problem. When we heard what Pacto was doing upstream — rethinking something as simple yet fundamental as the prefilled syringe — it clicked. You can't decarbonize medical logistics by focusing on just the flight or just the packaging. It has to be the whole journey, from factory floor to patient. That alignment is what sparked our collaboration."

Question: Would you say you now share a unified vision? If so, how would you articulate it, and why is it important to you both?

Robert: "Absolutely. Our shared vision is simple but powerful: to make the delivery of healthcare both faster and fairer — without the carbon cost. We want to show that you can improve access and equity while also cutting emissions at every step."

Nadine: "We're aligned on building a supply chain that's efficient, climate-conscious, and built for real-world challenges. It's about getting critical supplies where they're needed in a way that's scalable and resilient."

Question: How do Pacto Medical's upstream innovations and Rune Aero's downstream solutions create synergies, achieving more together than either company could individually?

Robert: "Pacto's innovations happen at the start of the supply chain — we reduce the size and material footprint of prefilled syringes. That upstream reduction means fewer shipments, less packaging, less cold-chain burden, and lower supply chain costs."

Nadine: "And that's exactly what makes Rune Aero's aircraft more efficient downstream. Our hybrid-electric plane is designed to move medical cargo with lower emissions, but the impact multiplies when the cargo itself is lighter and more compact. Together, we're enabling a cleaner, more efficient supply chain that's built for real-world challenges."

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A rendering of a typically sized syringe (left) and the reduced-size Pacto Medical syringe (right).

Question: Pacto Medical, can you describe the key innovations you've implemented to reduce the environmental impact of pre-filled syringes?

Robert: "We're fundamentally rethinking the design of prefilled syringes — not the medicine inside, but everything around it. Our focus is on high-performance, minimalist packaging that maintains sterility without excess materials. By reducing bulk and waste, we cut packaging volume by up to 40%, which directly lowers associated carbon emissions and cost.

What's often overlooked is that even small changes in packaging can ripple across the system — smaller boxes, fewer pallets, lower refrigeration energy, and a smaller carbon footprint overall."

Question: Rune Aero, what key innovations are you developing, and what engineering challenges have you had to overcome in the process? 

Nadine: "At Rune Aero, we're building a hybrid-electric aircraft specifically for cargo delivery in places where infrastructure is limited. Instead of retrofitting existing planes, we're starting from scratch–optimizing aircraft for volume, since many medical supplies are bulky but lightweight. The hybrid-electric system lets us improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions, while still covering longer ranges. One of the trickier challenges has been keeping the design simple enough to operate in remote areas–short runways, minimal maintenance, smaller support footprint–while integrating autonomy in a way that's safe, scalable, and easy to oversee from the ground."   

Question: Have you conducted any case studies to demonstrate the potential impact of your combined technologies? What were the key findings?

Robert: "We've modeled a simulated humanitarian response mission — delivering prefilled syringes from Nairobi to Lodwar District Hospital in Kenya. When we applied both our technologies, the results were striking."

Nadine: "Right, by combining Rune's hybrid-electric aircraft and Pacto's compact syringe packaging, we saw an 80% reduction in CO₂ emissions per syringe compared to the conventional model. On top of that, we could double the payload per trip and save over 135 gallons of fuel for every 100,000 units delivered.

Beyond the numbers, what excites us most is reaching remote areas faster and more reliably–helping make equitable access to critical supplies more practical and scalable."

Question: You've mentioned that you're seeking partners for pilot programs. What key criteria are you looking for in potential collaborators?

Robert: "For Pacto, we're especially interested in partners who are serious about co-developing affordable and climate-smart drug delivery solutions — pharma manufacturers, syringe producers, and global NGOs that recognize sustainability and health equity as a shared responsibility."

Nadine: "On our end, we're looking for partners who need a better way to move critical supplies where traditional transport fails short–rural clinics, disaster zones, or time-sensitive deliveries. Ideal collaborators are open to piloting solutions in the field and care about speed, reliability, and reducing emissions."

Question: What are the biggest technological or policy barriers you currently face in delivering your services?

Nadine: "It's less about barriers and more about designing for the realities we see in the field–things like short, unprepared runways, and limited access to infrastructure and fuel. We're building the aircraft to handle that from day one. The goal isn't to retrofit old systems, but to offer something that works better and cheaper for how and where care needs to be delivered." 

Robert: "Exactly. In the medical space, even sustainable innovations need to navigate regulatory pathways for materials, sterility, and compatibility. It's not a bad thing — those standards protect patients — but it does mean change can be slow. That's why collaboration with forward-looking regulators and partners is key."

Question: Beyond traditional business metrics, how do you approach measuring the success of your collaboration, taking into account environmental and social impact?

Robert: "For us, success isn't just profit or units shipped. It's about how much waste, carbon, cost, and delay we can eliminate from the system. We measure our impact in avoided emissions, reduced material use, and improved access — especially in low-resource settings."

Nadine: "And I'd add — it's also about trust and resilience. Can we help a clinic in a remote area get life-saving supplies faster? Can we make medical delivery carbon-neutral without making it more expensive? Those are the metrics that matter most to us."

Question: What are your long-term goals for this collaboration, and how do you envision it scaling to address the broader challenges in medical logistics?

Robert: "The long-term vision is a fully climate-aligned medical supply chain — from manufacturing to last-mile delivery. We want to build a blueprint that others can follow, proving that sustainability, affordability, and access all go hand in hand."

Nadine: "Our goal is to scale this model globally — connecting with health ministries, NGOs, and private partners to deploy these systems where they're needed most. Climate change is rewriting the rules for healthcare logistics. Together, we're writing a new playbook — one that's faster, fairer, and future-ready."

To learn more, please contact:
Robert Halvorsen: Robert@PactoMedical.com
Nadine Auda: nauda@runeaero.tech