A FedEx worker walks past his truck in the North Beach neighborhood on June 23, 2026 in San Francisco, California.
Heather Diehl | fake images
As demand for specialty drugs like GLP-1 increases, logistics companies, including Universal Postal Union and Fedex They are adapting their strategies to better ship and store those pharmaceuticals.
Most injectable GLP-1 medications, including Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli LillyMounjaro and Zepbound require refrigerated storage for shipping.
The Covid pandemic put healthcare logistics center stage in 2020, as the delivery of temperature-controlled vaccines quickly became a crucial part of keeping the virus at bay. And as more money has been poured into new pharmaceutical innovations, the transportation of those products has come into focus.
Logistics companies are now investing millions of dollars and strengthening dozens of temperature-controlled facilities to access the market.
In June, UPS announced a new $48 million investment in temperature-controlled facilities as it sees growing demand for critical treatments. According to Growth Market Reports, demand for temperature-sensitive biologics is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.3% through 2033 and reach a market value of approximately $39.1 billion.
Meanwhile, medications for obesity and diabetes have gained popularity. A July Gallup poll found that 11% of Americans will take GLP-1 drugs for weight loss in 2026, up from just 3% in 2024.
But if they are not stored and shipped at the correct temperature, they risk losing their effectiveness.
The Food and Drug Administration has warned that improper storage during shipping can affect drug quality and advises patients not to use GLP-1 medications that arrive “hot or insufficiently refrigerated.”
Other biologics, such as some vaccines, insulin, and antibiotics, also require specialized shipping to maintain their effectiveness. For logistics companies, that means ensuring proper storage and movement every step of the way.
increasing the volume
Healthcare logistics has proven to be one of UPS's biggest opportunities. On an earnings call with analysts in April, CEO Carol Tomé said the company's global healthcare portfolio has gained market share every year since 2021, generating its first quarter of healthcare revenue of $3 billion in the first quarter of this year.
UPS healthcare president John Bolla told CNBC that the company is seeing more and more healthcare companies looking for partners to keep up with volume.
“One of the biggest opportunities we see is supporting the shift toward more specialized therapies and more care delivered outside of traditional healthcare settings,” Bolla said.
United Parcel Service trucks are parked at a UPS customer service center in Los Angeles on April 1, 2024.
Mario Tama | fake images
He said UPS is experiencing “rapid growth” in biological, cellular and gene therapies, although the biggest challenge is that the margin for error is small: Even a brief deviation from the correct temperature can ruin the drugs, Bolla said.
“But that's also what's creating such a significant opportunity in healthcare logistics,” he said. “As treatments become more specialized and supply chains become more complex, healthcare companies need partners who can provide not only temperature-controlled storage or transportation, but also end-to-end visibility, control and reliability across the entire network.”
FedEx is also capitalizing on this trend, launching a life sciences organization earlier this month specifically to support the movement of pharmaceuticals and other healthcare products.
On an earnings call in June, FedEx Chief Customer Officer Brie Carere told analysts that medical transportation revenue in fiscal 2026 reached nearly $10 billion.
“We're creating end-to-end solutions focused on global pharmaceutical customers, and what's so important with the global pharmaceutical sector is that you have to recognize that there is a patient at the end of every delivery or someone who is waiting to be treated,” said Nick Gennari, president of healthcare at FedEx. “So we take this very, very seriously.”
With GLP-1s specifically, Gennari said there is increasing complexity in delivering those medications, with forms ranging from injectables to oral pills to direct to consumer. But with that complexity comes a growth opportunity for FedEx, which he says is “ideally positioned.”
Gennari said FedEx has specialized technology, including its machine learning engine that allows customers to view product movement with predictive capabilities, as well as its technology that identifies healthcare products and treats each one differently based on their unique needs.
Gennari also said he is “very comfortable” with the company's core capabilities and its expansion plans, including cold chain logistics.
“Much of the infrastructure that is required to be successful in this space we already have. We have the airline; we have an incredible schedule; we have the transportation capabilities. The network is strengthened and works very well,” he said.
Complex supply chains
CH Robinson told CNBC that the logistics company had surpassed $1 billion in revenue in healthcare logistics alone over the past year, largely due to growth in GLP-1 drugs, as it has been investing in temperature-controlled facilities.
“You really need to have that end-to-end connectivity, so you need to have a good network and infrastructure built to adequately serve healthcare customers,” said Ronnie Davis, the company's vice president of North American ground transportation.
Davis said the drug supply chain has also become more complicated. In addition to requiring refrigeration, many medications have a short shelf life and must be delivered in precise time frames.
“Much of the innovation has been about bringing drugs to market,” Davis said. “I think what you're starting to see is that this is really putting a strain on the cold supply chain capabilities in the market… With the rise of GLP-1s and other specialty drugs, it's really creating a competitive nature for the same refrigerated supply resources that exist and, frankly, that supply is not unlimited, but limited.”
Davis said CH Robinson is working to expand its capabilities, especially to keep up with the increased volume. At the same time, he added, pharmaceutical companies are also trying to be creative to bring their products to market with a longer shelf life.
That innovation also intersects with the growth of artificial intelligence capabilities, according to Hendrik Venter, CEO of DHL Supply chain. The logistics company uses AI to monitor critical life sciences products, track temperatures and anticipate where a problem might occur.
“You're seeing the industry move from conventional to biopharmaceutical,” Venter told CNBC. “You need to have a supply chain that is resilient and capable of shipping in all of these temperature zones.”
The company announced last year that it plans to invest 2 billion euros ($2.25 billion) in healthcare logistics by 2030, with half of that figure allocated to the Americas.
Many pharmaceutical companies are also outsourcing their warehousing activities to DHL, Venter said. The company takes charge of these facilities, manages them and integrates them into the rest of its network.
DHL launched a pharmaceutical air corridor around the world, with a dedicated aircraft and connected network ensuring medicines are not shipped through separate regulatory environments.
“You can't lose a shipment. You can't replace it. It must be delivered on time, every time, with the right quality and temperatures,” Venter said. “So we continue to selectively look at how to strengthen that network.”
