UPS Invests $48M in Temperature-Controlled Facilities Amid Healthcare Logistics Boom

United Parcel Service is investing $48 million in 27 temperature‑controlled facilities as the industry sees a boom in healthcare logistics, CNBC has learned exclusively. The facilities, located across the Americas, Europe and Asia, are optimized for moving around shipments that need to be kept at certain temperatures. The company said the investment will help it stay ahead of a boom in medicines and pharmaceuticals — like some GLP-1s — that have to 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 delivered safely and reliably to patients around the world," said Kate Gutmann, UPS' president of international, healthcare and supply chain solutions. "This effort – and all of our work in healthcare logistics – extends from a deep understanding that we're doing more than moving packages."

The demand for temperature-sensitive biologics is projected to grow at an 8.3% compound annual growth rate through 2033 and reach a market value of roughly $39.1 billion, according to Growth Market Reports. Many new medicines are required to be stored at specific temperatures to maintain efficacy, UPS said, making healthcare logistics more crucial than before. According to the World Health Organization, up to 50% of global vaccines are wasted every year, with a significant portion of that coming from cold-chain storage issues.

"These investments reflect our commitment to continue to align 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' move comes as the industry overall has seen growing investments in the space, especially with the meteoric rise of GLP-1 drugs. Medicines like Novo Nordisk 's Wegovy and Ozempic require strict refrigeration and temperature control during transit. A November KFF poll found that 1 in 8 Americans are taking GLP-1s.

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 biggest areas of growth. "Our global healthcare portfolio has gained market share every year since 2021," she said on the call. "And in the first quarter of this year, we generated our first $3 billion healthcare revenue quarter ever, with all three of our segments delivering year-over-year revenue growth."

Tomé added that UPS is committed to continuing to "lean into that space in a meaningful way."