UPS Makes a Big Bet on Cold Storage

UPS is betting big on cold storage as the weight-loss drug wave rolls on. The shipper is putting $48 million into 27 temperature-controlled "cross-dock" facilities across the Americas, Europe, and Asia to handle medicines that must be kept within tight temperature ranges. That includes GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, which "require strict refrigeration and temperature control during transit," per CNBC.

UPS, whose healthcare-related revenue hit $3 billion for the first time in Q1 of this year, explains the driver of the move in a press release:

• "As therapies like cell and gene treatments, mRNA platforms and GLP-1 injectables come to market, healthcare supply chains are becoming more complex and risk-sensitive. Temperature excursions are a key driver of that risk, with cold-chain failures estimated to cost up to $35 billion annually and, according to WHO, contributing to up to 50% of global vaccine waste."