Growth and regulation in pharmaceutical cold chain logistics

The pharmaceutical logistics sector is expanding due to a rising demand for temperature-sensitive medical treatments, particularly biologics and GLP-1 medications used for diabetes and obesity.

In the United States, FedEx has established a dedicated FedEx Life Sciences unit to manage the transport of pharmaceuticals, clinical-trial materials, and medical devices. This initiative utilizes temperature-controlled facilities and machine-learning tools to address a market for biologics projected to reach approximately $39 billion in value over the next seven years. Nick Gennari, president of Healthcare and Life Sciences at FedEx, stated the unit aims to provide “certainty, visibility and global reach” for researchers and patients.

In Spain, major distributors like Cofares and Bidafarma are seeing revenue growth as the industry shifts toward cold chain logistics. The top six distributors in the country now control approximately 90% of the market. The necessity for strict temperature maintenance—often between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius—is driven by the rise of drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, as well as vaccines and oncology therapies. Data shows the proportion of new drugs requiring refrigeration or freezing is steadily increasing: from 37% of drugs launched between 2013 and 2017, to 45% between 2018 and 2022, with projections suggesting roughly 50% of drugs launched between 2023 and 2027 will require such logistics.

As specialized medicines like mRNA vaccines and gene therapies become more prevalent, the German Federal Council has called on its government to advocate for uniform European requirements for transport service providers. This aims to ensure consistent temperature maintenance from manufacturer to patient, requiring providers to implement advanced management and high transparency across international borders.