The expansion of these global facilities, which are designed for short-term storage between air and ground transportation, allows UPS to better tap into an emerging $39.1 billion temperature-sensitive biologics market, which continues to grow amid ballooning demand for medication that is required to be stored cold.

“This effort—and all of our work in healthcare logistics—extends from a deep understanding that we’re doing more than moving packages,” Kate Gutmann, executive vice president and president of international, healthcare and supply chain solutions at UPS, said in a statement. “We are helping patients access the medications and treatments they need.”

The risk associated with improperly stored medicines is high. According to the World Health Organization, temperature problems are responsible for 50% of global vaccine waste and cost $35 billion per year. Among the medications needed to be stored in temperature-controlled units are gene and cell therapies, mRNA vaccines, and GLP-1 injectables.

GLP-1s in particular have seen soaring popularity, with one in eight adults reporting using the medication to treat diabetes,weight loss, or another condition, according to KFF data from November 2025. Pharmaceutical companies have raced to meet the growing demand for the medication. Ely Lilly announced in March plans to invest $3 billion over the next decade into expanding manufacturing in China, primarily to increase production capacity for orforglipron, the company’s experimental GLP-1 receptor.

Demand for the drug is expected to grow. Starting July 1, Medicare beneficiaries may be able to get some GLP-1 prescriptions for $50 per month under a new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services initiative.

Freight carriers’ healthcare push

UPS’s push into temperature-controlled facilities represents a growing trend of freight companies investing in healthcare logistics to protect themselves against economic uncertainties hitting demand elsewhere. 

Healthcare demand is often inelastic, meaning even in times of dire financial straits, people are still seeking treatment, and companies like UPS and FedEx are wanting to capitalize. 

“There have been lots of challenges over the past several years—high ​inflation, contractions in markets—but healthcare continues to grow,” UPS CEO Carol Tome told Reuters in April. “I would argue that healthcare is pretty ⁠recession-proof.”

In January, UPS acquired Frigo-Trans and BPL, European healthcare logistic services companies for cold-chain transportation. The move followed the November 2025 acquisition of Andlauer Healthcare Group for $1.6 billion. 

The healthcare pivot appears to be paying off. Tome said during the company’s first-quarter earrings call in April UPS’s global healthcare portfolio has gained market share every year since 2021, generating $3 billion in revenue last quarter for the first time.

FedEx is employing a similar strategy, onboarding a healthcare-focused vice president of quality with experience in global healthcare logistics earlier this year. FedEx ended the 2024 fiscal year with about $9 billion in health care revenue.

“To attract new business in pharma, where we are currently under-penetrated, we are enhancing our offering to serve the specialized, unique needs of our customers with extreme emphasis on quality,” FedEx Chief Customer Officer Brie Carere told investors in March.