The company is adding 27 cold-chain facilities across the Americas, Europe and Asia to transport medicines that require strict refrigeration. UPS said the expansion will help move sensitive pharmaceutical products more quickly while strengthening visibility and oversight throughout the delivery process.
In a statement to Moneywise, a UPS spokesperson said newer therapies are changing how medications are transported and handled.
“We’re seeing a clear shift in healthcare toward treatments that are more specialized, sensitive and less forgiving to move particularly biologics and the boom in newer therapies like GLP‑1s that need to stay within a specific temperature range the entire time,” the spokesperson said in an email.
Demand is rising
The investment comes as demand for temperature-sensitive medicines continues to grow. Research firm Growth Market Reports projects the market for temperature-sensitive biologics will grow at an 8.3% compound annual rate through 2033, driven in part by the rapid adoption of GLP-1 medications.
One factor behind that growth is the rapid adoption of GLP-1 medications. Nearly one in eight U.S. adults have taken a GLP-1 drug, according to a 2025 KFF poll.
At the same time, prescriptions for obesity-related GLP-1 drugs surged nearly 587% between 2019 and 2024, according to FAIR Health, while analysts expect the global market for the medications to approach $200 billion by 2030.
Medications like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic have to stay refrigerated while they’re transported to remain effective, making dependable cold-chain shipping more important than ever.
The need goes beyond weight-loss drugs. The World Health Organization estimates that roughly half of all vaccines are wasted each year, in part because of failures in temperature-controlled storage and transportation.
A growing focus on healthcare
UPS said the investment will speed up deliveries while improving tracking and oversight throughout the supply chain.
According to the spokesperson, the new cross-dock facilities are designed to improve handling when shipments move between different modes of transportation, such as from air to ground, where delays or temperature changes are more likely to occur.
