DHL Group commits €2 billion to expand life sciences and healthcare logistics by 2030

DHL Group has announced a strategic investment of €2 billion over the next five years to scale its logistics infrastructure for the life sciences and healthcare sector. This investment is part of the Group’s “Strategy 2030” and is aimed at enabling healthcare customers to expand operations, support innovation, and deliver patient services across key global regions.

According to DHL, the investment will be distributed geographically, with 50 per cent directed to the Americas, 25 per cent to Asia Pacific, and 25 per cent to the EMEA region. This allocation reflects the company’s intent to strengthen integrated logistics capabilities and patient-focused supply chains wherever healthcare companies operate.

The initiative will target improvements across all logistics functions, including storage, fulfilment, distribution, global shipping, and last-mile delivery. A major component of the spend will be used to build new GPD-certified pharma hubs, scale up cold chain infrastructure, deploy new temperature-controlled vehicles, and upgrade both active and passive packaging systems to support sustainable and compliant logistics.

In light of increasing demand for services in clinical trials, biopharma, and cell and gene therapies, DHL also plans to introduce specialised cooling infrastructure to manage low and ultra-low temperature logistics. This includes implementation of IT systems that provide end-to-end visibility across the supply chain to support product quality, regulatory adherence, and reliability for healthcare providers.

DHL has also launched its new sector brand, DHL Health Logistics, which unifies its life sciences and healthcare service portfolio under one umbrella. This integrated platform is designed to support pharmaceutical and biopharma customers who require agile and connected logistics systems that can handle cross-border, temperature-sensitive supply chains.

“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, CEO 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.”

DHL Group recorded more than €5 billion in revenue from its life sciences and healthcare logistics operations in 2024. The Group projects an additional €5 billion in incremental revenue by 2030. With this investment, DHL is positioning itself to respond to the evolving logistics needs of the healthcare industry.

Currently, DHL operates close to 600 sites, hubs, and warehouses across nearly 130 countries for its healthcare logistics division. These sites collectively provide over 2.5 million square metres of temperature-controlled storage space. The network supports a portfolio of integrated services tailored to pharmaceutical, biopharma, and medical device clients.

The Group’s recent acquisition of CRYOPDP, a specialty courier company focused on clinical trials, biopharma, and cell and gene therapies, forms part of the broader investment strategy. The acquisition expands the reach and capability of DHL’s Pharma Specialised Network.