Pharma Cold Chain: More Growth, More Technology Offerings

Call it the long-term business effects of COVID-19: When the global pandemic took hold in early 2020, business leaders and governments suddenly became aware of the fundamental importance of supply chains. For the pharma industry, it raised concerns about ingredient supply, product distribution, and, when the COVID-19 vaccines became available, the even more fundamental value of the pharmaceutical cold chain.

The logic of pharma cold chains is simple: products must be kept within a specified temperature range, or they spoil and become potentially dangerous to patients. The usual range is 2 C to 8 C, although it can go higher or significantly lower, into cryogenic ranges. The value of wasted product globally is estimated at tens of billions of dollars; global vaccine programs routinely waste 50% of their inventory due to temperature upsets or overstocking (to account for the wastage).

These days, the heightened awareness of supply chain issues remains, spurred along by new tariff and trade concerns. The pharma cold chain underwent sudden, massive expansion to supply vaccines globally—and in the meantime, more temperature-sensitive products (particularly, the glucagon-like peptide 1 diabetes and weight loss drugs) are keeping manufacturers, logistics companies and product suppliers busy. Additionally, the COVID-19-based awareness of supply chains is driving new investment in cold chains for food and other perishables. Temperature-controlled warehousing worldwide is a hot market.

In the 2010 to 2020 period, the pharma cold-chain market grew at double-digit rates, twice the rate of all pharmaceuticals, according to past reporting in Pharmaceutical Commerce. These days, the growth rate is still elevated—usually in the high single digits. Various market studies put the current market for pharma cold-chain services at $10 to $30 billion annually,^1-3 and for all health care logistics, at $65 billion. Further, the underlying biopreservation services market (including biobanking, organ transplantation, and related clinical and commercial processes) is predicted to grow from $4.5 billion in 2025 to $44.5 billion by 2035, a 26% compounded annual growth rate.⁴

Pharma cold-chain services: A strategic imperative

The pharma cold chain is currently undergoing a subtle but profound change. In the past, cold-chain management meant combining the right insulating box and coolant with the right freight-forwarding or delivery service, and tallying up the order completions. Nowadays, three significant evolutionary changes are changing that picture. One is the increasing complexity of drugs being transported today, including but not limited to cellular and genetic therapies (CGTs). Another is the new capabilities brought on by advancing technology, especially software and artificial intelligence applications. A third is the competitive drive and growing sophistication of service providers for pharma cold chains, ranging from developers of packaging materials and technologies to meet environmental goals to freight forwarders and distributors that take on complex delivery challenges, all with economic benefits. Today’s clinical researchers and drug marketers are increasingly relying on the capabilities of their service providers.

The following are some unusual developments that show the new prominence of cold-chain services and technologies for the life sciences:

A “new category of veterinary care” could come about through an agreement between Gallant, an animal-health biotech, and MWI Animal Health, a distribution subsidiary of Cencora.⁵ The just-announced agreement specifies that MWI will set up a fulfillment process for delivering Gallant’s proposed mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy to cat veterinarians throughout the U.S. The MSC therapy requires -80 C storage and temperature-controlled delivery.

“Breakthrough science only matters if we can safely and reliably put it into the hands of veterinary professionals,” said Linda Black, D.V.M., Ph.D., CEO of Gallant. “With MWI, we are pairing regenerative medicine innovation with world-class supply chain management.”

Stem cells and related CGTs are a growing part of the biopharma industry, and a growing number of companies are providing dedicated services for human health. That this leading-edge technology could become viable for animal health represents a new stage in its evolution.

DHL expands its Air Freight Cold Chain Network — with a branded “DHL Health Logistics” Boeing 777.⁶ In an industry first, DHL Group is branding its air freighter for dedicated service between Brussels and Cincinnati, with other routes being planned. Admittedly, slapping a logo on an air freighter is not a major capital commitment, but DHL is backing this up with an investment of more than $2 billion in health care logistics. "Life sciences and health care companies expect cold-chain solutions that are reliable, compliant and transparent from end to end — and those expectations are rising fast," said Oscar de Bok, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding, Freight.

Nearly simultaneously, Frontier Scientific Solutions has opened its every-other-day air service between its own good manufacturing practice logistics facilities in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Shannon, Ireland.⁷ The company is investing $1.5 billion in the Wilmington facility, which will also be a free-trade zone (FTZ). “By offering direct transportation routes through our global gateways, we can dramatically cut the transportation and waiting times … while simultaneously reducing touchpoints, mitigating the risk of temperature excursions and promoting zero losses,” it says.

Not to be outdone, DHL Supply Chain is opening a 1 million square-foot dedicated health care distribution center in Annville, Pennsylvania, this year.⁸ The site will also function as an FTZ.

Specifying the traditional cold-chain delivery process required identifying a packaging vendor, a temperature-monitoring vendor, the transportation mode (air, land, sea) and regulatory and customs-compliance services. A hallmark of the current scene is the increasing number of collaborations or outright consolidations occurring among service providers. Recent news:

• In November, UPS announced the completion of a $1.6 billion acquisition of Andlauer Healthcare Group Inc., a Canadian health care third-party logistics provider with specialized cold-chain transportation for North America.⁹ A year ago, UPS also acquired two German health care logistics providers, Frigo-Trans and BPL.
• In the past year, Kuehne+Nagel, the Swiss global logistics giant, has opened a new distribution center for Sysmex Europe SE, and one for Sanofi in Turkey; both involve temperature-controlled storage along with Kuehne+Nagel’s contract logistics services.^{10, 11}
• In its quarterly earnings report in the fall, Cencora announced plans to invest $1 billion through 2030 in expanded supply chain capabilities, including a new distribution center in Ohio and revamped ones in California and Alabama.¹² “We’re starting to see, and continue to see, more cold-chain products come to market,” said Heather Zenk, Cencora’s president of US supply chain, according to a Wall Street Journal report.¹³ She added, “We need to expand cold-chain capabilities.”
• DHL Supply Chain pops up again with 2 substantial US acquisitions: the CryoPDP acquisition from Cryoport in early 2025, and a more recent acquisition of SDS Rx, a specialized provider of final-mile delivery and health care transportation services.^14,15 Cryoport is a specialist in CGT logistics and equipment. The SDS Rx network of more than 200 U.S. locations will be integrated into DHL Supply Chain’s Life Sciences & Healthcare business.
• Controlant, a supply chain software and instrumentation provider, is partnering with SpotSee, a provider of temperature indicators and dataloggers.¹⁶ The partnership will link the SpotSee WarmMark QR indicators with Controlant’s devices and cloud-based automation services.

CGT drives technology

The most disruptive force in the cold chain today is the rapid expansion of CGTs (aka advanced therapy medicinal products, or ATMPs). These therapies—highly personalized, often autologous and extremely temperature‑sensitive—are pushing the limits of traditional logistics models. Unlike conventional biologics, CGTs require individualized supply chains that connect patients, collection centers, manufacturing sites and treatment centers in tightly coordinated loops. Every step must be precise, compliant and traceable.

CGTs frequently require cryogenic temperatures (from -80 C to the liquid nitrogen range, -170 C) to preserve live cells. Traditional laboratory dewars have been upgraded, for example, with the Cryoport Elite Ultra Cold, a 28- or 56-liter box in which trays or other payload configurations are kept in the -60 C to -80 C range. High-performance insulation can keep the payload at temperature for five days.

Considerable innovation is occurring in this service regimen. Cold Chain Technologies, a packaging company with a wide range of containers (both in volume and in temperature range), recently formed a partnership with Gobi Technologies to expand the latter’s reach into CGT parcel shipping. Gobi, with U.S. offices in Kirkland, Washington, has developed a chilling technology based on the thermodynamics of water adsorption of the mineral zeolite.¹⁷ Zeolites, whether natural or synthetic, have been used for decades in industrial processes to dry gaseous streams; during the adsorption/desorption cycle, cold temperatures are achieved. The process is said to operate without external power, enabling longer temperature-control cycles.

Another innovative parcel system comes from Ember LifeSciences, which has been offering the Ember Cube for several years, and has ongoing relationships with Cardinal Health, CVS Health and others. In December, it raised $16.5 million from an investment firm, with participation from Cardinal Health, Carrier Ventures, and others.¹⁸ The Ember Cube employs a “thermoelectric engine” to provide active (powered) cooling, along with some innovative labeling technology to speed the return of the parcel. A planned Ember Cube 2, using phase-change materials, is expected this year.

A third recent entry is Artyc, which is commercializing active containers with a capacity of 5 liters, intended for home deliveries or for shipping clinical materials.¹⁹ Operating temperatures range from -25 C to 25 C. Pilot programs with universities and health care organizations are ongoing.

All three of these innovation companies share these traits: reusable containers, sophisticated IoT tracking and communication technologies, and package configurations suitable for last-mile delivery. But mature cold-chain packaging companies offer these, too. Jay McHarg, CEO of AeroSafe Global, says his company was one of the pioneering firms in what has come to be called “cold chain as a service”: managing the preconditioning of containers, maintaining inventories where needed, and handling return logistics and their refurbishment.

“Besides ensuring the right temperature profile of the shipment, it’s equally important to verify delivery to the patient,” says McHarg. To that end, the company expanded its digital tracking system to what it calls the Delivery Intelligence Navigator, which both provides patient-delivery verification and enables predictive management of the shipment’s progress. “Most tracking systems are reactive, meaning that they tell you when an upset has occurred,” he says. “Predictive systems can look ahead to potential future problems, allowing for better outcomes.”

The comprehensive tracking of deliveries also boosts the package return rate; for AeroSafe, it is over 98%, according to McHarg. (This result is independently certified by Baker Tilly International, a global auditing firm. McHarg mentions this as a defense against the “greenwashing” going on these days, wherein sustainability performance is exaggerated.)

Active vs Passive

Parcel shipping is only one part of the pharma cold chain. Especially for international bulk deliveries, the action centers on single- or multipallet containers, often transported by air freight. A longtime leader in this space is Envirotainer, which expanded its lines of active (powered refrigeration) containers with the acquisition of Swiss AirTainer.²⁰ Swiss AirTainer had developed a pallet-scale container that included solar panels to assist in charging its onboard refrigeration system.

Another acquisition-turned-product offering comes from Cold Chain Technologies (CCT), which acquired Tower Cold Chain in 2024 and introduced the CCT Tower Elite last year.^21,22 The 1,600-liter passive unit can handle a range from deep-frozen to room temperature and is said to be the lightest pallet-scale unit on the market, thereby saving drayage costs with air carriers.

The CCT Tower Elite and similar passive offerings line up against the active units from Envirotainer and its competitors, including CSafe, DoKaSch and a few others. “Both active and passive units are growing, but I think the passive version is growing faster,” says Amardeep Chalal, senior vice president of marketing and corporate development at CCT. The company has over 20 global locations where its shipping units can be returned, and for CCT, the process of lining up container locations and usage is manageable.

References

1. Bengale P. Biopharma Cold Chain Logistics Market Size, Share, Trends, & Industry Analysis Report, By Component (Storage, Transportation, and Monitoring Components), By Region -Market Forecast, 2025 – 2034. Polaris Market Research. September 2025. Accessed March 10, 2026. https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/biopharma-cold-chain-logistics-market 
2. Global Cold Chain Pharma Logistics Market Opportunities & Growth Trend to 2033. HTF Market Intelligence. Updated December 26, 2025. Accessed March 10, 2026. https://www.htfmarketintelligence.com/report/global-cold-chain-pharma-logistics-market
3. Healthcare Cold Chain Logistics Market Size and Share Forecast Outlook 2025 to 2035. Future Market Insights Inc. Accessed March 10, 2026. https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/healthcare-cold-chain-logistics-market
4. Biopreservation Market: By Product (Equipment, Media, Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)); Application (Regenerative Medicine, Bio-Banking, Drug Discovery); Cell Providers Volume (CD19+, CD34+, IPSC, MSC, Tumor Cells, HESC, Others); Region—Market Size, Industry Dynamics, Opportunity Analysis and Forecast for 2026–2035. Astute Analytica. Updated February 11, 2026. Accessed March 10, 2026. https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/biopreservation-market
5. Gallant. Gallant announces first-of-its-kind partnership with MWI Animal Health to deliver anticipated FDA conditionally approved stem cell therapy into veterinary clinics. Published February 27, 2026. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://www.gallant.com/news/gallant-announces-first-of-its-kind-partnership-with-mwi-animal-health-to-deliver-anticipated-fda-conditionally-approved-stem-cell-therapy-into-veterinary-clinics/
6. DHL Group. DHL Group expands airfreight cold chain network to advance global health logistics. Published February 19, 2026. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://group.dhl.com/en/media-relations/press-releases/2026/dhl-group-expands-airfreight-cold-chain-network-to-advance-global-health-logistics.html
7. Frontier Scientific Solutions. Frontier Scientific Solutions announces schedule for the world’s first dedicated life science air corridor between the EU and the US. Published October 29, 2025. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://www.fs2.com/media-events/frontier-scientific-solutions-announces-schedule-for-the-worlds-first-dedicated-life-science-air-corridor-between-the-eu-and-the-us
8. DHL Supply Chain. DHL Supply Chain expands life sciences and healthcare capabilities with new center of excellence. Published January 7, 2025. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://www.dhl.com/us-en/home/press/press-archive/2026/dhl-supply-chain-expands-life-sciences-and-healthcare-capabilities-with-new-center-of-excellence.html
9. United Parcel Service Inc. UPS acquires Andlauer Healthcare Group for $1.6 billion. Published November 3, 2025. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://investors.ups.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/2151/ups-acquires-andlauer-healthcare-group-for-1-6-billion
10. Kuehne+Nagel. Kuehne+Nagel and Sysmex enter into strategic partnership in the healthcare sector. Published September 4, 2025. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://newsroom.kuehne-nagel.com/kuehnenagel-and-sysmex-enter-into-strategic-partnership-in-the-healthcare-sector/https://investors.ups.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/2151/ups-acquires-andlauer-healthcare-group-for-1-6-billion
11. Kuehne+Nagel. Sanofi partners with Kuehne+Nagel for fulfilment services in Türkiye. Published March 3, 2025. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://newsroom.kuehne-nagel.com/turkiye-sanofi/
12. Cencora. Cencora to invest $1 billion in U.S. distribution network. Published November 5, 2025. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://www.cencora.com/newsroom/cencora-to-invest-1-billion-in-us-distribution-network
13. Young L. Drug distributor Cencora to invest $1 billion in U.S. supply chain. Wall Street Journal. November 5, 2025. Accessed March 10, 2026. https://www.wsj.com/articles/drug-distributor-cencora-to-invest-1-billion-in-u-s-supply-chain-f13ac50b
14. DHL Group. DHL Group acquires CRYOPDP from Cryoport to strengthen DHL Health Logistics. Published March 31, 2025. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://group.dhl.com/en/media-relations/press-releases/2025/dhl-group-acquires-cryopdp-from-cryoport-to-strengthen-dhl-health-logistics.html
15. DHL Supply Chain. DHL Supply Chain completes acquisition of SDS Rx. Published November 7, 2025. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://www.dhl.com/us-en/home/press/press-archive/2025/dhl-supply-chain-completes-acquisition-of-sds-rx.html
16. SpotSee. SpotSee and Controlant announce strategic collaboration to expand shipment visibility and last-mile proof for life sciences. Published March 2, 2026. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://spotsee.io/blog/spotsee-and-controlant-announce-strategic-collaboration-to-expand-shipment-visibility-and-last-mile-proof-for-life-sciences/
17. Cargo Airports & Airline Services (CAAS). Cold Chain Technologies partners with Gobi Technologies. Published February 12, 2026. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://caasint.com/cold-chain-technologies-partners-with-gobi-technologies/
18. Ember LifeSciences Inc. Ember LifeSciences secures $16.5 million Series A funding to advance breakthrough cold chain solutions for global healthcare. Published December 16, 2025. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://www.emberlifesciences.com/post/ember-lifesciences-secures-16-5-million-series-a-funding-to-advance-breakthrough-cold-chain-solutio
19. Artyc PBC. Reimagining the cold chain: Artyc PBC introduces Medstow 5L to power a new era of healthcare logistics. Published May 6, 2025. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://www.shipartyc.com/resources/blog/reimagining-the-cold-chain-artyc-pbc-introduces-medstow-5l-to-power-a-new-era-of-healthcare-logistics
20. Envirotainer. Envirotainer invests in Swiss Airtainer to accelerate sustainable innovation in pharmaceutical cold chain. Published August 15, 2025. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://www.envirotainer.com/about-us/about-envirotainer/press-releases/2025/envirotainer-invests-in-swiss-airtainer/
21. Cold Chain Technologies. Cold Chain Technologies acquires Tower Cold Chain, expanding its product portfolio and global service network. Published October 23, 2024. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://www.coldchaintech.com/news-item/cold-chain-technologies-acquires-tower-cold-chain-expanding-its-product-portfolio-and-global-service-network
22. Cold Chain Technologies. Cold Chain Technologies looks to “go further” with launch of Universal CCT Tower Elite. Published April 2025. Accessed March 12, 2026. https://www.coldchaintech.com/news-item/launch-of-universal-cct-tower-elite