UPS to invest $48 million in cold-chain facilities for health care shipments

UPS plans to spend $48 million on 27 temperature-controlled facilities, expanding its capacity to handle medicines that require careful storage during shipping. The investment underscores the company’s push into health care logistics as demand rises for GLP-1 injectables, vaccines and other temperature-sensitive treatments.

The company announced the investment Monday, saying the sites are intended for short-term storage as shipments move between air and ground transportation. UPS said the facilities are part of its broader effort to serve customers moving complex health care products across global supply chains.

Kate Gutmann, UPS executive vice president and president of international, health care and supply chain solutions, said in a company statement that the work reflects the company’s role in helping patients receive medicines and treatments, rather than only transporting packages.

Cold storage demand is rising

The expansion positions UPS to compete in a temperature-sensitive biologics logistics market valued at $39.1 billion, according to Growth Market Reports. Medicines that require controlled temperatures include gene and cell therapies, mRNA vaccines and GLP-1 injectable drugs.

Storage failures can carry high costs for health systems and drugmakers. The World Health Organization has said temperature-related problems account for 50% of vaccine waste worldwide and cost $35 billion a year.

GLP-1 drugs have become a larger part of the cold-chain shipping market. KFF reported in November 2025 that one in eight adults said they were using a GLP-1 medicine for diabetes, weight loss or another condition.

Drugmakers have been adding capacity to meet that demand. Reuters reported that Eli Lilly said in March it would invest $3 billion over the next decade to expand manufacturing in China, mainly to increase production capacity for orforglipron, its experimental GLP-1 receptor drug.

Demand may increase further through Medicare. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has said that beginning July 1, some Medicare beneficiaries may be able to receive certain GLP-1 prescriptions for $50 a month under a new initiative.

Freight companies target health care

UPS is building its health care business as freight companies look for steadier areas of demand. Health care spending is often less sensitive to economic slowdowns because patients continue to need treatment, and UPS and FedEx have both expanded services aimed at pharmaceutical and medical customers.

UPS Chief Executive Carol Tome told Reuters in April that health care had continued to grow despite recent pressures such as inflation and weaker markets. She argued that health care is relatively resistant to recessions.

The company has also used acquisitions to build its cold-chain operation. UPS said in January it completed acquisitions of Frigo-Trans and BPL, European health care logistics companies focused on cold-chain transportation. That followed its November 2025 acquisition of Andlauer Healthcare Group for $1.6 billion.

Tome told investors on the company’s first-quarter earnings call in April that UPS’s global health care portfolio has gained market share every year since 2021. She said the business generated $3 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time.

FedEx is pursuing a similar strategy. The company hired a health care-focused vice president of quality with global logistics experience earlier this year, according to its investor materials, and ended fiscal 2024 with about $9 billion in health care revenue.

FedEx Chief Customer Officer Brie Carere told investors in March that the company was improving its offering for pharmaceutical customers, with a focus on quality, as it tries to win more business in an area where she said FedEx remains under-penetrated.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.