Jan 7, 2009 9:44 AM

UPS has been selected by Merck & Co. Inc. to manage a significant portion of its U.S. distribution of temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals and vaccines, as well as to provide package transportation services.

Through its subsidiary UPS Supply Chain Solutions, UPS has assumed control of two key Merck distribution centers, which provide the firm with temperature-sensitive storage, packaging, and transportation services critical to its pharmaceutical and vaccine products.

Most of Merck’s U.S. vaccines and pharmaceutical volume flow through these two centers in suburban Atlanta GA and Reno NV.

The two U.S. facilities are cGMP-compliant and add more than 200,000 square feet of secure, automated healthcare logistics space to UPS’s network. They join UPS’s 23 existing compliant healthcare facilities in North America, and two soon-to-open healthcare facilities in Puerto Rico and the Netherlands. In total, UPS will have more than 3.5 million square feet of dedicated healthcare space globally.