UPS Healthcare announces expansion in Irish market with first-of-its-kind global healthcare facility in Dublin

UPS Healthcare announces expansion in Irish market with first-of-its-kind global healthcare facility in Dublin

UPS has announced launch of a first-of-its-kind healthcare facility in Dublin. Opening in late 2023, the new facility will boast nearly 6,000 m² of healthcare-dedicated space to connect Ireland’s growing pharmaceutical and medical technology industries to UPS’s smart global logistics network that serves customers in over 220 countries and territories.

UPS Healthcare’s Dublin facility will support Ireland’s pharmaceutical and medical device industries in delivering next generation biologics, critical vaccines and vital healthcare equipment to patients around the world. The facility will create 30 jobs initially, and the investment demonstrates UPS commitment to the Irish market and support for its long-term export growth.

The announcement comes at a time when 80% of pharmaceutical drugs in the European Union require cold-chain logistical support and temperature-controlled transportation. More than 50% of all new drugs in the global pharmaceutical pipeline are cutting edge biomedical drugs - such as vaccines - that tend to be temperature-sensitive.

Speaking ahead of the announcement, 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. 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 planned acquisition of the Bomi Group, which has temperature-controlled facilities in 14 countries in Europe and Latin America and will add nearly 3,000 highly skilled Bomi team members. With the approved completion of this acquisition by 2023, 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 specialized temperature-controlled fleet across Benelux and Italy. This expansion adds to existing cold chain transport services in Italy, Hungary, the UK, and Poland.

Commenting on the announcement Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland said “This is a welcome development from UPS which will support the thriving, export led life science sector here which supplies lifesaving medicines to patients all over the world.  I wish the company well with this new initiative.”