A FedEx employee walks past a truck in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on June 23, 2026.
Heather Deal | Getty Images
As demand for specialty pharmaceuticals like GLP-1 increases, the following logistics companies UPS and fedex is adapting its strategies to better transport and store medicines.
Most injectable GLP-1 drugs include: novo nordiskOzempic and Wegovy, and Eli LillyMounjaro and Zepbound require refrigeration during shipping.
Medical logistics took center stage in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic made temperature-controlled vaccine transportation a key part of preventing the virus. And as more money is poured into new drug innovations, the transportation of those products has become a focus.
Logistics companies are currently investing millions of dollars and beefing up dozens of temperature-controlled facilities to develop the market.
UPS announced in June that it would invest $48 million in new temperature-controlled facilities in anticipation of growing demand for critical care. According to Growth Market Reports, demand for temperature-sensitive biologics is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.3% through 2033, reaching a market value of approximately $39.1 billion.
Meanwhile, drugs to treat obesity and diabetes are rapidly gaining popularity. A July Gallup poll found that 11% of Americans will be taking GLP-1 drugs for weight loss in 2026, up from just 3% in 2024.
However, if it is not stored and transported at the correct temperature, it risks losing its effectiveness.
The Food and Drug Administration warns that improper storage during transportation can affect drug quality and advises patients not to use GLP-1 drugs that arrive “warm or inadequately refrigerated.”
Other biologics, such as some vaccines, insulin, and antibiotics, also require special transportation to remain effective. For logistics companies, this means ensuring proper storage and movement at every step.
bulk up
Healthcare logistics is proving to be one of the biggest opportunities for UPS. CEO Carol Tomé said during an April earnings call with analysts that the company’s global healthcare portfolio has grown market share every year since 2021 and generated $3 billion in healthcare revenue for the first time in history in the first quarter of this year.
John Bora, UPS’ president of healthcare, told CNBC that more healthcare companies are looking for partners to handle this volume.
“One of the biggest opportunities we see is to support the transition to more specialized treatments and more care being delivered outside of traditional medical settings,” Bora said.
On April 1, 2024, a United Parcel Service truck is parked at a UPS customer center in Los Angeles.
Tama Mario | Getty Images
He said UPS is experiencing “rapid growth” in the field of biologics, cell and gene therapy, but the biggest challenge is that it has a small margin of error, Bora said, noting that even the slightest deviation from the correct temperature can ruin a drug.
“But it’s also what’s creating very important opportunities in medical logistics,” he says. “As treatments become more specialized and supply chains become more complex, healthcare companies need a partner that can provide not only temperature-controlled storage and transportation, but also end-to-end visibility, control and reliability across the network.”
FedEx is also capitalizing on this trend, launching a life sciences organization earlier this month to specifically support the movement of pharmaceuticals and other health care products.
FedEx Chief Customer Officer Bree Carrere told analysts on an earnings call in June that medical transportation revenue will reach nearly $10 billion in fiscal 2026.
“We’re building an end-to-end solution focused on our global pharmaceutical customers,” said Nick Gennari, President of Healthcare at FedEx. “It’s important for global pharmaceutical companies to recognize that at the end of every delivery, there’s always a patient or someone waiting for treatment.” “So we take this very seriously.”
For GLP-1 in particular, Gennari said the delivery of these medicines has become increasingly complex, as they come in a variety of forms, from injectables to oral tablets, delivered directly to consumers. But with that complexity comes growth opportunities for FedEx, he said, and the company is “ideally positioned.”
Gennari said FedEx has specialized technology, including a machine learning engine that allows customers to use predictive power to see how products behave, and technology that identifies health care products and treats each differently depending on their unique needs.
Gennari also said he was “very satisfied” with the company’s core capabilities and expansion plans, including cold chain logistics.
“We already have much of the infrastructure that we need to be successful in this area. We have airlines, we have incredible schedules, and we have elevator capacity. The network is strengthened and is working very well,” he said.
complex supply chain
CH Robinson The logistics company told CNBC that its revenue from healthcare logistics alone exceeded $1 billion in the past year, largely driven by growth in GLP-1 pharmaceuticals through investments in temperature-controlled facilities.
“We really need end-to-end connectivity, so we need to build a very good network and infrastructure to properly serve our healthcare customers,” said Ronnie Davis, the company’s vice president of North American ground transportation.
Davis said the pharmaceutical supply chain is also becoming more complex. In addition to requiring refrigeration, many medicines have short shelf lives and must be delivered within a precise time frame.
“A lot of the innovation was in getting the drug to market,” Davis said. “I think what you’re starting to see is that it’s really putting stress on the cold chain supply chain capabilities of the market. … With the rise of GLP-1 and other specialty medicines, it’s really creating a nature of competition for the same refrigerated supply resources that are out there. And quite frankly, that supply is limited, not unlimited.”
Davis said CH Robinson is working to strengthen its capabilities, especially to handle higher volumes. At the same time, pharmaceutical companies are also trying to get creative to bring products with longer shelf lives to market, he added.
According to Hendrik Venter, CEO of , its innovation also intersects with the growth of artificial intelligence capabilities. DHL supply chain. The logistics company uses AI to monitor critical life science products, track temperatures, and predict where problems may occur.
“The industry is transitioning from traditional to biopharmaceuticals,” Venter told CNBC. “You need a supply chain that is resilient and can ship in all different temperature zones.”
Last year, the company announced plans to invest 2 billion euros ($2.25 billion) in medical logistics by 2030, half of which will be allocated to the Americas.
Many pharmaceutical companies also outsource their warehousing operations to DHL, Venter said. The company will take over, manage and integrate these facilities into the rest of the network.
DHL has opened pharmaceutical aviation corridors around the world with dedicated aircraft and connected networks to ensure that pharmaceuticals are not transported through separate regulatory environments.
“You can’t lose a package. You can’t replace it. It has to be delivered on time, at the right quality and temperature, every time,” Venter said. “So we continue to selectively look at ways to strengthen that network.”
