The explosive growth of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss and diabetes has pushed logistics giants into a multimillion-dollar infrastructure race, as companies scramble to build out cold-chain capabilities to safely transport temperature-sensitive medications.
UPS announced a $48 million investment in temperature-controlled facilities in June, responding to booming demand for critical treatments that require precise storage conditions. The move comes as usage of GLP-1 medications in the United States has surged, with 11% of Americans taking these drugs for weight loss purposes in 2026, up from just 3% two years earlier, according to a July Gallup poll.
The stakes are high for shippers. Most injectable GLP-1 medications, including Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound, must be kept refrigerated during transport. The Food and Drug Administration has warned that improper storage can compromise medicine quality, recommending patients avoid using GLP-1 drugs that arrive warm or insufficiently refrigerated.
Healthcare Logistics Becomes a Billion-Dollar Business
The pharmaceutical shipping market represents a significant growth opportunity for carriers. UPS CEO Carol TomΓ© told analysts in April that the company’s global healthcare portfolio has gained market share annually since 2021, generating its first $3 billion healthcare revenue quarter in early 2026.
FedEx reported nearly $10 billion in healthcare transportation revenue for fiscal year 2026, according to Chief Customer Officer Brie Carere. The company launched a dedicated life sciences organization earlier this month to support pharmaceutical and healthcare product movement.
C.H. Robinson surpassed $1 billion in healthcare logistics revenue over the past year, with much of the growth driven by GLP-1 drugs, according to the company.
The Challenge of Temperature Control
John Bolla, UPS President of Healthcare, described the company as experiencing “rapid growth” in biologics and specialized therapies, but noted the margin for error remains razor-thin. Even brief temperature deviations can render medicines ineffective.
“As treatments become more specialized and supply chains become more complex, healthcare companies need partners that can provide not just temperature-controlled storage or transportation, but end-to-end visibility, control and reliability across the entire network,” Bolla said.
The challenge extends beyond temperature alone. Ronnie Davis, vice president of North American surface transportation at C.H. Robinson, noted that many drugs have short shelf lives and require delivery within precise time windows.
“With the rise of GLP-1s and other specialized medicine, it’s really creating a competitive nature for the same refrigerated supply resources that are there and, quite candidly, that supply is not unlimited, it’s constrained,” Davis said.
Major Infrastructure Investments
DHL Supply Chain announced plans last year to invest 2 billion euros (approximately $2.25 billion) in health logistics by 2030, with half allocated to the Americas. The company has launched a dedicated pharmaceutical air corridor with specialized aircraft to ensure drugs aren’t shipped through separate regulatory environments.
CEO Hendrik Venter emphasized that pharmaceutical companies are increasingly outsourcing warehousing operations to logistics providers, who then integrate those facilities into broader networks while managing temperature-controlled storage.
FedEx’s Nick Gennari, president of healthcare, highlighted the company’s deployment of specialized technology, including machine learning engines that provide predictive visibility into product movement and systems that identify healthcare products to treat each according to its unique requirements.
According to Growth Market Reports, demand for temperature-sensitive biologics is projected to grow at an 8.3% compound annual growth rate through 2033, reaching a market value of roughly $39.1 billion. The trajectory suggests the infrastructure race among logistics providers is just beginning, as pharmaceutical innovation continues accelerating and more treatments require specialized handling from factory to patient.
Source: www.cnbc.com β https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/25/ups-fedex-dhl-healthare-logistics-glp.html
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