DHL Group invests in Singapore's healthcare logistics to boost capacity for transporting pharmaceuticals and medical products across Asia Pacific.
DHL Group is strengthening its Life Sciences and Healthcare (LSHC) capabilities in Singapore through a series of investments designed to expand its capacity to transport, store, and distribute pharmaceuticals, medical devices, clinical trial materials, and other healthcare products across Asia Pacific. Building on the opening of its first Pharma Hub last year, the company is advancing its DHL Health Logistics network around three pillars: infrastructure, specialist expertise, and strategic partnerships.
The expansion responds to sustained growth in regional demand. Asia Pacific's pharmaceutical logistics market is projected to grow from US$163 billion in 2025 to nearly US$239 billion by 2031, driven by rising demand for biologics, vaccines, and other temperature-sensitive products that require specialized storage and transportation. As healthcare supply chains grow more complex, manufacturers increasingly seek logistics partners capable of protecting product integrity and meeting stringent regulatory requirements.
To meet that demand, DHL is deploying new infrastructure across its Express, Global Forwarding, and Supply Chain business units while continuing to build healthcare expertise and closer ties across the broader logistics ecosystem. The investments build on DHL Group's wider LSHC commitment, including the €500 million earmarked for Asia Pacific as part of a €2 billion global investment in the sector announced in 2025. That program covers infrastructure and technology spanning storage, order fulfillment, distribution, global transportation, and last-mile delivery.
DHL Global Forwarding is strengthening Singapore's role in regional healthcare trade through the DHL Singapore Coldchain Hub, a dedicated facility that will form part of the company's broader Health Logistics Air Freight Network connecting key pharmaceutical and life sciences markets worldwide. The network combines global air connectivity with specialized healthcare handling to move sensitive shipments with greater reliability, visibility, and temperature integrity across critical trade lanes. Alongside a pharmaceutical corridor initiative under development with ecosystem partners, the investment aims to create more compliant and resilient healthcare supply chains across the region.
Located within Changi's 24/7 Free Trade Zone at Changi Nexus One, the S$22 million (€15 million) facility will provide 3,047 square meters of GDP-aligned, temperature-controlled infrastructure for high-value, time- and temperature-sensitive cargo, including pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and biologics. With dedicated handling environments of 2°C to 8°C and 15°C to 25°C, the facility is designed to support an unbroken cold chain from aircraft to a DHL facility and onward to customers' warehouses. This approach minimizes temperature excursions and reduces the need for supplementary temperature-control measures and packaging. The facility is slated to launch in late 2027.
'In healthcare logistics, precision is non-negotiable. A temperature excursion of just a few degrees can compromise the integrity of high-value medicines, biologics, and other critical healthcare products. That is why building an end-to-end, unbroken cold chain is essential,' said Praveen Gregory, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. 'Beyond protecting products, it gives healthcare companies the confidence that life-saving therapies can move safely, compliantly, and reliably across increasingly complex global supply chains. By combining specialized infrastructure, direct airside connectivity, and dedicated temperature-controlled handling solutions, our new Singapore Coldchain Hub will help minimize product exposure throughout the shipment journey and give customers greater assurance that their products will arrive in the right condition, at the right time, to the patients who depend on them.'
DHL Supply Chain is building on the success of the Pharma Hub launched in Singapore last year with a second facility that expands its healthcare logistics footprint in the country. The new S$7 million (€5 million) hub will add controlled ambient storage capacity for pharmaceutical and medical device customers, supporting warehousing, distribution, kitting, and value-added healthcare logistics operations.
Spanning over 8,000 square meters, the facility is designed as a fully temperature-controlled ambient environment operating between 15°C and 25°C, with humidity held below 60 percent. It will accommodate approximately 7,680 pallet positions and incorporate GDP-compliant and GMP-aligned (Good Manufacturing Practice-aligned) infrastructure, including dedicated redressing rooms for specialized requirements. With both hubs in operation, DHL Supply Chain's total pharmaceutical logistics footprint in Singapore will reach approximately 16,000 square meters and around 12,000 pallet positions. Pharma Hub 2 is expected to begin operations in the first half of 2027.
'Capacity on its own isn't the goal. It's what that capacity allows our customers to do,' said Eunis Hew, Managing Director, DHL Supply Chain Singapore. 'Pharma Hub 2 builds on the strong foundation we have established with Pharma Hub, giving our customers additional room to grow while maintaining the quality and compliance standards their products require. As healthcare supply chains become more sophisticated, purpose-built infrastructure becomes increasingly important.'
DHL Express has installed a GDP-compliant handling and storage space of around 20 square meters at its South Asia Hub at Changi Airport. The controlled ambient room, operating between 15°C and 25°C, allows temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical shipments to move securely through one of the region's most important air logistics gateways. It marks the first GDP-compliant healthcare logistics space within a DHL Express facility globally.
GDP-compliant processes help ensure that medicines are handled under appropriate conditions, remain traceable, and maintain their quality throughout the distribution journey.
'When it comes to healthcare shipments, every handoff matters,' said Christopher Ong, Managing Director, DHL Express Singapore. 'By expanding GDP-compliant handling and storage capabilities within our South Asia Hub, we're helping customers reduce risk during transit and maintain the integrity of temperature-sensitive products throughout their journey. That reliability is critical, especially when those shipments support clinical trials, hospital treatments, and patient care.'
Infrastructure represents only one part of the equation. DHL is also investing in specialized expertise across its operations to ensure temperature-sensitive and regulated products are handled consistently at every stage. Teams across Express, Global Forwarding, and Supply Chain receive ongoing training in temperature-controlled handling, GDP requirements, quality management, and regulatory compliance, supported by DHL's Certified Life Sciences Specialist program. These programs keep employees current with evolving industry standards.
The company is also growing its pool of healthcare logistics specialists, including pharmacists, who combine operational expertise with industry knowledge to meet increasingly stringent supply chain requirements.
DHL is working closely with airlines, airport partners, healthcare manufacturers, and logistics providers to reinforce the wider healthcare logistics ecosystem.
One example is DHL Express's partnership with Life Science Incubator (LSI), a life sciences innovation partner. Through the collaboration, DHL will provide start-ups, SMEs, researchers, and healthcare innovators with access to specialized logistics capabilities at LSI's incubator, along with workshops and training programs on international trade, supply chain management, and cross-border regulatory requirements. By bringing logistics expertise closer to where innovation takes place, DHL aims to help emerging healthcare businesses scale and navigate global supply chains.
Together with Changi Airport Group (CAG), DHL Global Forwarding is enhancing healthcare trade lanes across Asia Pacific to support the movement of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and other temperature-sensitive products through Singapore. By combining Changi Airport's global connectivity and airside access with DHL's healthcare logistics expertise, cold-chain capabilities, and expanding Health Logistics network, the Singapore Coldchain Hub collaboration aims to give customers greater consistency and visibility across their supply chains.
Collectively, these investments position Singapore as an increasingly important gateway for healthcare and life sciences supply chains in Asia Pacific. Through specialized infrastructure, skilled teams, and strong industry partnerships, DHL is helping customers navigate the growing complexity of the supply chain while safeguarding the integrity of critical healthcare products.
