UPS to develop new healthcare hub in Ireland

UPS will open what it has described as a “first-of-its-kind” global healthcare facility in Dublin, Ireland.

Expected to open its doors in late 2023, the new facility will feature nearly 6,000 m2 of space designed to connect Ireland’s growing pharmaceutical and medical technology industries to UPS’s global logistics network.

The facility will, said UPS Healthcare, support Ireland’s pharmaceutical and medical device industries in delivering next-generation biologics, critical vaccines and vital healthcare equipment to patients all around the world.

According to UPS, 80% of pharmaceutical drugs in the EU require cold-chain logistical support and temperature-controlled transportation, while more than half of all new drugs in the global pharmaceutical pipeline are cutting-edge biomedical drugs – such as vaccines – that tend to be temperature-sensitive.

UPS’s investment in the new facility demonstrates, it added, its commitment to the Irish market and to supporting its long-term export growth.

Cathy O’Brien, UPS Healthcare’s vice president for international sales, said: “This is a significant investment by UPS in Ireland and a demonstration of our commitment to enabling truly global healthcare supply chains.

“Our new facility supports the quality and regulatory needs of manufacturers, many of whom are providing critical upstream activity, and we provide them with resiliency and scale.”

She continued: “UPS Healthcare is now offering the first truly dedicated freight, small parcel and logistics offering in Ireland, including cold chain management services.

“Ireland is a world leader in research, biologics and healthcare innovation, and we are confident that our clinical to commercial service offering will drive value for the Irish healthcare and economic ecosystem in the years to come.”

UPS recently announced its intention to acquire the Bomi Group, which has temperature-controlled facilities in 14 countries in Europe and Latin America.

When this acquisition is completed next year, UPS Healthcare will have more than doubled the footprint of its facilities since 2020.

UPS is also investing in the next generation of products, including the launch and expansion of UPS Premier, a technology-enabled express delivery service, that upgrades small packages with advanced sensor technology as well as ensuring a priority lane in UPS’s global network.

Earlier this year, UPS Healthcare expanded its specialised temperature-controlled fleet across the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) region and Italy.

This expansion added to pre-existing cold-chain transport services in Italy, Hungary, the UK, and Poland.

UPS expands in healthcare with Bomi acquisition