HEALTHCARE

By Kawal Preet | First published: June 26, 2020    Updated: June 29, 2026

New risks are emerging and evolving in the healthcare supply chain. How can your organization move sensitive healthcare materials safely amid disruption?

• Today’s healthcare leaders must navigate an unpredictable risk landscape shaped by climate disruption, geopolitical uncertainty, and regulatory complexity.
• To strengthen supply chain resilience and keep healthcare products moving, organizations need reliable cold chain logistics, backed by end-to-end visibility and scalable transport capacity.
• Logistics providers can work closely with healthcare companies to support supply chain contingency planning, unlock predictive shipping insights, and provide timely intervention when disruption hits.

Few supply chains are as critical as healthcare, where the safety and integrity of a shipment can be life-changing. Clinical trial samples can be compromised by minor temperature changes in transit, holding up research progress by months – or even years. Shipping delays can also impact the viability of life-saving biologics such as stem cells, putting patient health at risk.

As Asia Pacific’s (APAC) pharmaceutical sector expands rapidly, the need for time-critical healthcare shipping and cold chain logistics is rising in tandem. Between 2026 and 2035, APAC’s pharmaceutical market is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 7.02%, driven by increasing demand for biologics and specialty medicines such as gene therapy products. Higher shipping volumes will bring new layers of supply chain complexity, from ensuring product integrity at scale to securing sufficient transport capacity.

Adding to the challenge is a new wave of healthcare supply chain risks. Now more than ever, healthcare companies will need specialized expertise and smarter insights to stay on top of increasing disruption.

Adapting to emerging risks in healthcare supply chains

APAC’s healthcare supply chains are long, complex, and globally integrated. Many of the region’s healthcare firms source raw materials from around the world and distribute their goods widely. This means a localized disruption in one part of the world can quickly ripple across supply chains.

As new forms of disruption emerge, managing them will be a pressing challenge for today’s healthcare leaders. One key risk is climate disruption, which is becoming more frequent and severe. Extreme weather events such as heatwaves and flooding can impact suppliers, halt shipping, and place pressure on pharmaceutical cold chains.

Another fast-evolving concern is geopolitical uncertainty. Trade tensions and rising tariffs can disrupt established logistics corridors, causing unexpected shipping costs and delays. In addition, regulatory changes can further increase the risk of delays, as standards for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and biologics vary widely across markets and are frequently updated.

Finally, healthcare supply chains remain vulnerable to unpredictable spikes in demand. The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated how unprecedented global demand, combined with widespread supply disruptions, triggered shortages of key medicines and testing reagents.

While many pharmaceutical firms in APAC have taken action to strengthen production capacity and diversify supply networks, resilience extends beyond manufacturing. To move healthcare products efficiently, organizations also need reliable cold chain logistics, backed by end-to-end visibility and scalable transport capacity.

How to manage healthcare supply chain risks

Faced with these evolving risks, how can healthcare companies stay ahead? For many, the answer lies in tapping specialized expertise. Across the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group, 90% of healthcare firms report working with specialized shipping providers to manage the complexities of cold chain logistics.

When it comes to time-critical healthcare shipping, factors like price, speed, reliability, and security are table stakes. The right logistics provider must be able to track and control specific shipping conditions such as temperature, light exposure, humidity, transit duration, and more. Above all, they must be able to manage today’s unpredictable risks by supporting supply chain contingency planning, proactively anticipating delays, and providing timely intervention to keep shipments moving.

So how can healthcare companies tap logistics support to enhance supply chain resilience and risk management? Here are five key questions to ask your logistics provider.

1. Can you deliver the visibility needed to stay ahead of risks, including near-real-time tracking and predictive insights?

Effective pharmaceutical cold chain management relies on full visibility. Healthcare organizations need location tracking and temperature monitoring capabilities to safeguard product integrity, maintain compliance, and ensure shipments arrive on schedule.

Today, next-generation sensors are transforming visibility in healthcare logistics. Advanced sensor technology – such as FedEx’s SenseAware ID – can unlock near-real-time insights into a shipment’s location at every stage, from customs clearance to handovers. For healthcare teams, this precision enables more accurate planning and decision-making.

As supply chain risks become more complex, healthcare leaders need more than insight – they also need foresight. AI-powered predictive analytics is becoming an essential tool for companies to anticipate and respond to potential risks before they escalate. 

That’s why we’ve developed FedEx Surround, an intelligent solution that combines AI-powered predictive analytics with proactive intervention. FedEx Surround offers predictive delay alerts and weather advisories, allowing healthcare teams to adjust plans in real time and minimize the impact of delays. 

At the Premium service tier, it also offers proactive cold chain recovery and top-tier intervention support, helping to safeguard the integrity of temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals in case of disruption. 

2. How flexible is your shipping capacity?

As the COVID-19 pandemic showed, healthcare supply chains need the capacity to scale up rapidly when a crisis hits. Shipping capacity is a common bottleneck, as logistics providers that rely on commercial airlines often face disruptions in tandem with other industries.

Logistics providers with their own global air network, such as FedEx, can offer greater control and flexibility. With the world’s largest cargo air fleet, we have the necessary agility to support urgent same-day or next-day delivery of essential healthcare supplies. This flexibility is enhanced by intelligent tools that help us anticipate delays and optimize delivery routes. 

3. What infrastructure and operational processes do you have to support supply chain contingency planning?

From extreme weather to geopolitical events, a single disruption can shut down logistics routes and leave healthcare materials stranded mid-transit. This is where contingency planning becomes essential. Healthcare leaders can work with logistics providers to create a robust playbook for shipment rerouting and temporary storage, ensuring the cold chain remains unbroken.  

At FedEx, we’ve developed a global network of Life Science Centers for precisely this purpose. These specialized storage facilities provide temperature-controlled zones and round-the-clock monitoring, keeping shipments in compliance with pharmaceutical cold chain requirements until they can continue their journey. In APAC, we have Life Science Centers in Singapore, Japan, and Korea.

4. Do you adhere to industry quality benchmarks and the latest regulations?

Good Distribution Practices (GDP) and the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma) are gold-standard benchmarks that should be embedded into healthcare shipping and handling processes.

Logistics providers that maintain GDP-compliant facilities and standardized quality management processes are better equipped to support seamless shipping across borders. Market-specific expertise matters as well – logistics specialists that are familiar with local regulations and customs clearance requirements can help minimize delays.

5. How do you balance cost-efficiency and quality assurance?

FedEx surveys show that quality is the top priority for pharmaceutical companies today as they look to safeguard product integrity and strengthen risk management. At the same time, firms need to strike a balance between risk management and cost control.

Since every healthcare organization has complex and specific needs, cost-effectiveness often requires a tailored approach. FedEx’s collaboration with leading Chinese life science supplier Shanghai Universal Biotech (Univ-Bio) is a prime example. 

As Univ-Bio expanded its product line and customer base, it needed efficient solutions to deliver critical biological research supplies safely. To support this, FedEx assembled a service group comprising team members from sales, customer service, ground operations, and gateway operations to develop workflows customized to the supplier’s unique needs. Ultimately, these tailored measures enabled Univ-Bio to reduce communication costs, streamline cross-border shipping, and enhance the safety of its biological products.

Moving from risk to resilience

In the face of evolving risks, healthcare supply chains must build the resilience to keep life-saving shipments moving amid disruption. Leading logistics providers like FedEx have a meaningful role to play in this journey. Advanced shipment visibility, predictive capabilities, and robust contingency planning can help healthcare organizations respond proactively to risks, ensuring that critical supplies reliably reach those who need them.