DHL Group has established a DHL Health Logistics brand and announced a €2bn investment into its logistics capabilities in the life sciences and healthcare sector over the next five years.
The investment aims to ensure efficient and reliable delivery of essential pharmaceutical products, clinical trials and cell & gene therapies and will focus on enhancing high-quality infrastructure and technology across all logistics areas - from storage, order fulfillment, and distribution to global shipping and last-mile delivery.
A significant part of the investment will be allocated to establishing new cross-divisional GPD-certified pharma hubs for multi-temperature shipments lanes, expanding cold chain capacity in existing facilities, commissioning new temperature-controlled vehicles, and enhancing both passive and active packaging solutions to ensure sustainable delivery.
As the demand grows in critical areas such as clinical trials, biopharma, and cell and gene therapies, DHL is also investing in high-quality, specialised cooling infrastructure to accommodate low and ultra-low temperature ranges.
Additionally, the Group will implement IT systems that are designed to ensure end-to-end visibility for product integrity and regulatory compliance.
According to DHL, 50% of the health logistics investment will be allocated to the Americas, 25% to Asia Pacific, and 25% to the EMEA region.
With its new sector brand, DHL Health Logistics, the Group has also consolidated its life sciences and healthcare expertise under one unified umbrella in a bid to simplify the management of complex, cross-border supply chains and offer an efficient end-to-end experience for pharmaceutical, biopharma and medical customers.
DHL's health logistics investment supports the Group’s "Strategy 2030".
“Similar to DHL Group’s purpose of 'Connecting people, improving lives', our strategic investment in life sciences and healthcare is driven by our customers’ mission: delivering essential, often life-saving products to people in need,” said Oscar de Bok, chief executive of DHL Supply Chain.
“We’re building high-quality, integrated logistics solutions that are as innovative and reliable as the products our customers create - ensuring that patients everywhere receive the right treatment, at the right time, with complete confidence.”
Currently, DHL Group operates nearly 600 sites, hubs, and warehouses across close to 130 countries dedicated to life sciences and healthcare logistics, encompassing a total of more than 2.5m sq m of temperature-controlled warehouse space.
In addition to infrastructure investments, DHL Group has recently acquired CRYOPDP, a leading specialty courier focused on clinical trials, biopharma, and cell and gene therapies, to further strengthen its capabilities in this segment and expand the potential of its Pharma Specialized Network.
