UPS Healthcare opens first dedicated facility in Germany

Picture of Giessen facility exterior

What’s New: The first healthcare-dedicated facility in Germany features 30,000 temperature-sensitive pallets, an 850,000 kWh solar energy system, and more.

Why it Matters: This 27,200 m2 GMP and GDP-compliant facility will support the UPS Healthcare Frankfurt Air Freight Gateway and European Air Hub facilities and ultimately promote growth across the European healthcare market.

UPS Healthcare has opened its first dedicated healthcare logistics facility in Giessen, Germany. The 27,200m2 GMP and GDP-compliant space will house over 30,000 pallet positions capable of supporting storage of a range of healthcare products at 2C to 8C, 15C to 25C, and up to -20C degrees.

"We have created a truly pan-European cold chain network, capable of providing end-to-end range of quality specialist storage and handling services," said John Bolla, President, Global Logistics and Distribution, UPS Healthcare. "In opening our first facility in Germany, we can provide greater visibility and control to ensure our customer's patient-critical products are delivered where they need to be, at the right time and at the right temperature."

The roof of the facility features a solar system that produces more than 850,000 kWh of electricity annually - more than the facility consumes. The building also meets the Gold Standard of the German Sustainable Building Council.

Strategically located, the new facility offers access to the fast-growing European healthcare markets, supporting pharmaceutical, medical device, and biologics producers that increasingly need time-critical and temperature-sensitive logistics for their products. The global market for biologic therapeutic drugs is set to increase from $285.5 billion in 2020 to $421.8 billion by 2025.

Throughout 2023, UPS Healthcare will add over 200,000 m2 of warehouse space, of which about half will be in Europe. This space will add to the existing 217 facilities with a total of over 1.5 million sqm2 of cGMP and GDP-compliant healthcare distribution space in 37 countries and territories. Through these investments, UPS Healthcare will have more than doubled its presence in dedicated healthcare facilities in 2023 compared to 2020.

Its proximity to UPS's European air hub at Cologne Bonn Airport and UPS Healthcare's European hub in Roermond also provides customers with shorter domestic and global transit times, potentially increasing production windows and offers next-day delivery to 80% of Europe as well as access to major ports including Rotterdam, Antwerp and Amsterdam. The facility will also support Hospital & Pharmacy distribution across Germany.