Top 10: Cold Chain Logistics in Healthcare

Pharmaceuticals and medical products need to be transported in specific temperature-controlled packages and vehicles.

Cold chain logistics refers to the careful movement of pharmaceuticals and other perishable products in specialised environments.

A lot of development and goes into creating effective cold chains, including technology to monitor temperatures and vehicles to manage products.

This sector is highly regulated and the items must be under strict care and monitoring throughout their journey.

Healthcare Digital has ranked the top 10 companies using cold chain logistics in the healthcare sector by their market capitalisation.

10. KN HealthChain

Company: Kuehne + Nagel
Market cap: US$26.6bn
CEO: Stefan Paul
HQ: Schindellegi, Switzerland

Kuehne + Nagel's HealthChain network provides transportation, handling and storage for healthcare products.

It has more than 270 HealthChain locations, reaching more than 95% of the world's population.

It works alongside QuickSTAT, another K+N company, to serve the entire product lifecycle, from early discovery and clinical trials through to commercial product distribution.

The service has strict quality requirements for its suppliers, ensuring consistency and reliability, as well as compliance with global regulations.

9. SF Pharma Logistics

Company: SF Holding
Market cap: US$26.8bn
CEO: Wang Wei
HQ: Guangdong, China

SF provides express logistics services with precise temperature special delivery.

This involves transportation with multiple temperature zones for cold chain drugs – including insulin, blood products and anti-cancer drugs – as well as diagnostic reagents and biological samples.

Its solutions cover multiple areas of business in the sector, working for enterprises engaged in the production and circulation of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, vaccine manufacturers, centres for disease control, hospitals and drug stores.

8. Maersk Cold Chain Logistics

Company: Maersk
Market cap: US$35.2bn
CEO: Vincent Clerc
HQ: Copenhagen, Denmark

Maersk's cold chain solutions are powered by refrigeration technologies and remote management.

The company has a network of customer-facing teams that have expertise in pharmaceuticals and quality for effective healthcare supply chain management.

Its remote container management allows for follow-up and intervention on alarms in order to minimise risks of temperature deviations.

It provides tailored solutions for each customer, focusing on fragmented supply chains, sensitive medicines and remote origins or destinations in the supply chain.

7. Cardinal Health OptiFreight

Company: Cardinal Health
Market cap: US$49bn
CEO: Jason Hollar
HQ: Ohio, US

Providing cold chain logistics services for hospitals, delivery networks, laboratories, surgeries and pharmacies, OptiFreight manages 22 million inbound, outbound and intra-facility shipments annually.

It manages more than 25,000 shipping locations around the world and delivers US$800m in customer savings each year.

The service offers insights for companies to track progress, as well as on-demand reporting through portals and dashboards.

This gives healthcare providers more control and visibility over its logistics and freight management spend.

6. DHL Supply Chain - Life Sciences & Healthcare

Company: DHL
Market cap: US$53.4bn
CEO: John Pearson
HQ: Bonn, Germany

With increasing complexity in drugs and healthcare logistics, companies like DHL must adapt by expanding their capabilities.

DHL's Life Sciences department caters for the modern healthcare sector, allowing for temperatures down to -196 C.

It provides ocean, air and rail solutions, incorporating its DHL LifeTrack cold chain tracking app and supply chain risk analytics.

Oscar de Bok, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding, Freight, says: "Life sciences and healthcare companies expect cold chain solutions that are reliable, compliant and transparent from end to end – and those expectations are rising fast. 

"At the same time, they're looking for ways to simplify supply chains and reduce costs."

5. DSV Healthcare

Company: DSV
Market cap: US$54.7bn
CEO: Jens H. Lund
HQ: Hedehusene, Denmark

DSV's Healthcare Logistics service covers healthcare transport, pharmaceutical warehousing and cold chain services.

Throughout the journey of a product, customers can see its status, including real-time temperature and humidity parametres.

Cold chain logistics accounts for up to 5% of DSV's volume and it has specialists in all types of pharmaceutical and healthcare logistics solutions, shaping its services for each customer's specific requirements.

It delivers a wide range of medical products, including biological specimens, blood plasma, vaccines, animal tissues and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

4. World Courier

Company: Cencora
Market cap: US$72.5bn
CEO: Robert Mauch
HQ: Pennsylvania, US

Cencora's World Courier aims to bring effective healthcare logistics to countries with limited infrastructure by identifying customs and regulatory requirements.

It has developed innovative temperature-controlled packaging for a diverse range of climates, which safeguards pharmaceutical shipments throughout their journey.

It builds solutions by leveraging custom, proprietary or third-party climate-controlled containers, shippers and packaging.

World Courier brings benefits including deep-frozen and cryogenic storage capabilities and global temperature-controlled storage facilities and logistics.

This enables it to deliver tailored healthcare logistics solutions that increase efficiency and enhance patient care.

3. UPS Healthcare

Company: UPS
Market cap: US$80.5bn
CEO: Carol B. Tomé
HQ: Georgia, US

UPS offers logistics solutions for biopharmaceuticals, with a range of temperature-controlled packaging systems including small parcels and large freight.

It helps customers create a global compliance programme to help mitigate risk, bring cost efficiencies and make an easier path for international expansion.

UPS's healthcare function maintains more than 1,200 global operating licences and manages relationships with more than 220 regulatory agencies, helping customers to navigate complex local and international compliance requirements and regulations.

This service uses UPS Premier, the company's advanced tracking technology which brings customisable levels of visibility for customers.

2. FedEx Healthcare Solutions

Company: FedEx
Market cap: US$83.6bn
CEO: Raj Subramaniam
HQ: Tennessee, US

FedEx's healthcare logistics solutions include FedEx Priority Alert, which includes around-the-clock support, advanced shipment monitoring, personalised notification for delays and customised package recovery.

It also offers shipping solutions for dangerous goods such as blood cooled with dry ice, diagnostic substances and medical deliveries.

FedEx's cold shipping containers are specially designed and tested to provide reliable cold temperatures for up to 120 hours, with its reusable containers helping to reduce costs while maintaining a safe environment for healthcare and pharmaceutical products.

It has recently opened a new Life Science Centre in the Netherlands, where it receives, stores, kits and packs products in one location.

The facility is located near Eindhoven Airport, connecting it to most EU countries within 24 hours through the FedEx network.

1. McKesson 3PL

Company: McKesson
Market cap: US$110.4bn
CEO: Brian S. Tyler
HQ: Texas, US

McKesson Third Party Logistics (3PL) focuses on addressing the complexity of storing and transporting plasma products.

Its cold chain specialists help customers build and execute plans, through coordinating truck volue, optimising routes and managing storage.

McKesson's packaging reduces the risks of storing, handling and distributing temperature-sensitive plasma products with a robust cold chain infrastructure.

It offers extensive and scalable solutions, with seamless operations, comprehensive storage facilities and specialised handling services.

The company has more than 730,000 annual deliveries and more than 1.5m square feet of warehouse space.