U.S. Biopharmaceutical Third-party Logistics Market (By Supply Chain: Cold Chain, Non-cold Chain; By Service; By Product Type: Specialty Drug) - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, Revenue, Regional Outlook and Forecast 2022-2030

The U.S. biopharmaceutical third-party logistics market size was estimated at around USD 46.83 billion in 2021 and it is projected to hit around USD 87.42 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 7.18% from 2022 to 2030.

Report Highlights

• Non-cold chain logistics led the U.S. Biopharmaceutical Third-party Logistics (3PL) market with the largest revenue share of 80.23% in 2021. 
• Cold chain logistics is projected to witness a lucrative growth rate of 10.13% over the forecast period. 
• The warehousing & storage segment led in terms of both revenue and volume share in 2021 and accounted for 43.51% of the global market. 
• Specialty drug products alone contributed to 39.22% of the global industry in 2021. The segment is also anticipated to witness the fastest growth rate of 7.74% over the forecast period. 

Increasing demand for novel biologics, the need to manage those is boosting the market growth. Besides, rising demand for temperature-controlled logistic services to transport biologics in various regions and growing distribution networks of biopharmaceutical companies to improve their sales are factors driving the growth.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on global logistics to some extent due to diminished air freight capacity and reduced workforce at warehouses and airports. The decisions of local authorities to shut down the logistic infrastructure, enforce movement restrictions, or put in place additional requirements to suppress transmission of the virus have also impacted the logistic services. This has significantly hindered many supply operations.

The future seems lucrative for the biopharmaceutical third-party logistics industry in the U.S. with the retraction of government regulations related to transportation and shelter-in-place mandates. A sudden surge in the demand for cold chain logistics was observed during the pandemic. Growth in the manufacture and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is expected throughout 2021. For instance, in March 2021, FedEx Express started shipping COVID-19 vaccines for McKesson Corp. to centers all across the U.S. The company has already shipped millions of COVID-19 vaccines since mid-December 2020.

Scope of The Report

Supply Chain Insights

Non-cold chain logistics led the U.S. Biopharmaceutical Third-party Logistics (3PL) market with the largest revenue share of 80.23% in 2021. This is largely attributed to the fact that the majority of pharmaceutical drugs do not need temperature control and are shipped as general cargo. Besides, as temperature control solutions are costly to implement & maintain, companies are reluctant to adopt these practices.

Cold chain logistics is projected to witness a lucrative growth rate of 10.13% over the forecast period. This is largely due to the increasing demand for blood-related products as well as vaccines that require temperature-controlled environments for their transportation. Besides, the high adoption of cold chain products in both the developed & developing regions and continuous innovation in new drugs is supporting the growth.

Service Type Insights

The warehousing & storage segment led in terms of both revenue and volume share in 2021 and accounted for 43.51% of the global market. This is owing to the large demand for third-party warehouse and storage services in the U.S. Increase in drug development activities and stringent regulations are anticipated to further boost the demand for third-party warehouse and storage services in the country.

The other services segment includes packaging, custom & duty management, procurement services, and a few more value-added services. These are anticipated to witness lucrative growth over the forecast period. Packaging is one of the crucial elements of the biopharmaceutical 3PL market since the transportation of drugs primarily depends on drug packaging. To maintain the standard and quality of products, biopharmaceutical companies pay a lot of attention to packaging quality to maintain uniformity, purity, integrity, and shelf life of biopharmaceutical products.

Product Type Insights

Specialty drug products alone contributed to 39.22% of the global industry in 2021. The segment is also anticipated to witness the fastest growth rate of 7.74% over the forecast period. Growth in specialty pharma and easy availability of low-cost third-party logistics service offerings are expected to propel the growth of the specialty drugs market over the forecast period.

The product type segment also includes generics, plasma-derived products, and others. Others include products such as vaccines and nutraceuticals. Specialty drugs are high-cost prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic conditions like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. They sometimes require special handling. These innovative, complex & high-priced specialty drugs are entering U.S. healthcare at a rapid rate. An increased amount of money is being devoted to specialty pharmacies. In the next five years, more than USD 100 billion is anticipated to be spent on developing generic specialty drugs.

Key Players

• FedEx
• DHL International GmbH
• SF Express
• United Parcel Service of America, Inc.
• AmerisourceBergen Corporation
• DB Schenker
• KUEHNE + NAGEL
• Kerry Logistics Network Ltd.
• Agility

Market Segmentation

• By Supply Chain Outlook
• Cold chain
• Non-cold chain
• By Service Type Outlook
• Transportation

• Air freight
• Sea freight
• Overland transportation
• Warehousing and storage
• Others
• By Product Type Outlook
• Specialty Drugs
• Generics
• Plasma Derived Products
• Others