UPS Healthcare announced a new set of facilities and continued global expansion designed to bring broader capabilities to global healthcare logistics customers.
 
Its newest cold chain and packaging center in Louisville, KY, is located on the UPS Healthcare campus near the Worldport global air hub. Combined with ongoing expansion throughout Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, UPS Healthcare continues to build comprehensive and sophisticated healthcare logistics capabilities.
 
The new Louisville cold chain facility is part of an ongoing strategy to expand UPS Healthcare’s global footprint. The expansions bring increased flexibility and efficiency to customers, as well as cold chain capabilities. This newest facility, named the ‘Cold Chain Packaging Center of Excellence,’ is the company’s first U.S.-based logistics facility to offer reusable cold chain packaging options for customers, utilizing the entire life cycle of temperature-controlled packages and contributing to a circular economy.
 
UPS’s success with COVID-19 vaccine delivery is creating long-term value in the future delivery of new drugs, especially biologics. The company’s temperature-controlled facilities are designed to handle biologically derived drugs, such as vaccines, at any temperature. According to the Biopharma Cold Chain Sourcebook, cold chain trends show 48 percent expected growth between 2018 and 2024 for medicines that require at least 2 to 8 degrees Celsius storage and shipping.
 
The overall market for cold chain services (packaging, transportation, and data services) is expected to significantly accelerate over the next three years, growing up to 24 percent by 2024, after posting a 10 percent increase from 2019 to 2020. 
 
“We are building on our expertise and leadership displayed throughout the pandemic by continuing to develop new capabilities in cold chain logistics around the world,” said UPS Healthcare President Wes Wheeler. “With new facilities and capabilities, UPS Healthcare is better positioned to safely manage the growing number of temperature-sensitive biologic drugs, as well as cell and gene treatments currently in development.”