United Parcel Service (UPS) trucks are parked at a UPS warehouse on October 28, 2025 in Vernon, California.
Mario Tama | fake images
United Parcel Service is investing $48 million in 27 temperature-controlled facilities as the industry sees a boom in healthcare logistics, CNBC has exclusively learned.
The facilities, located in the Americas, Europe and Asia, are optimized to move shipments that must be maintained at certain temperatures. The company said the investment will help it stay ahead of the rise of drugs and pharmaceuticals, such as some GLP-1, that must be kept at certain temperatures by improving speed and end-to-end chain of custody.
“Our global cross-dock facilities strengthen our end-to-end cold chain capabilities to ensure critical treatments are safely and reliably delivered to patients around the world,” said Kate Gutmann, president of international, healthcare and supply chain solutions at UPS. “This effort – and all of our work in healthcare logistics – extends from a deep understanding that we are doing more than moving packages.”
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, according to Growth Market Reports. Many new medications must be stored at specific temperatures to maintain their effectiveness, UPS said, making healthcare logistics more crucial than before.
According to the World Health Organization, up to 50% of the world's vaccines are wasted each year, and a significant portion of that comes from cold chain storage issues.
“These investments reflect our commitment to continue aligning our leading end-to-end supply chain to protect innovative treatments and diagnostics, supporting better patient outcomes,” UPS Healthcare President John Bolla said in a statement.
UPS's move comes as the broader industry has seen increasing investments in this space, especially with the meteoric rise of GLP-1 drugs. Medications like NordiskWegovy and Ozempic require strict refrigeration and temperature control during transit. A November KFF survey found that 1 in 8 Americans is taking GLP-1.
UPS CEO Carol Tomé said on the company's first-quarter earnings call in April that healthcare remains one of the company's top priorities and one of its biggest areas of growth.
“Our global healthcare portfolio has gained market share every year since 2021,” he said on the call. “And in the first quarter of this year, we generated our first quarter of $3 billion in healthcare revenue, and all three of our segments delivered year-over-year revenue growth.”
Tomé added that UPS is committed to continuing to “lean into that space in a meaningful way.”
