CEVA opens 17,000 sqm pharma hub near Strasbourg

CEVA Logistics has put a 17,000-square-metre pharmaceutical logistics facility into operation at Strasbourg-Entzheim Airport's business park, adding temperature-controlled capacity that spans ambient storage down to ultra-low -80°C handling. Construction started in 2025. The site is now live and positioned to serve sensitive, high-value healthcare flows into and out of eastern France.

The location matters for shippers. Entzheim gives the hub direct access to airport infrastructure, freight operators and customs services, which CEVA says will support both domestic and international pharmaceutical supply chains. That combination — cold-chain warehousing plus air cargo adjacency — is what pharma shippers typically pay a premium for.

What does the facility actually offer?

The warehouse is built around three temperature-controlled zones:

• Ambient storage held between +15°C and +25°C
• Refrigerated space between +2°C and +8°C
• A frozen zone running at -25°C

On top of that, the site can handle products requiring ultra-low temperatures down to -80°C — the range needed for certain biologics and vaccine-type products. Ceiling height exceeds 17 metres, and the building carries infrastructure for handling active temperature-controlled air cargo containers, the battery-powered ULD-style units used on pharma air freight lanes.

Operational kit includes inventory management and traceability systems geared to pharmaceutical supply chain requirements, an on-site dry ice production system, and specialised packaging equipment for palletised shipments. CEVA said the facility has been developed to meet applicable Good Distribution Practice (GDP) requirements along with demanding standards for security and product handling.

Sustainability features are part of the build. Rooftop solar panels will generate electricity for on-site consumption, and CEVA is targeting BREEAM "Very Good" and BiodiverCity certifications.

How big is CEVA's pharma network now?

This is CEVA's second site inside the Strasbourg-Entzheim business park, where it already runs a 10,000-square-metre warehouse. With the new opening, the company operates four logistics facilities across France's Grand Est region — two in Entzheim, plus sites in Sausheim and Vatry — together providing roughly 90,000 square metres of warehouse space.

The footprint is bigger than regional. Globally, CEVA serves more than 500 pharmaceutical and healthcare customers and runs approximately 50 specialised logistics facilities dedicated to the vertical.

Amaury Montay, Contract Logistics Director France at CEVA Logistics, said the new facility would strengthen the company's ability to manage sensitive pharmaceutical products while supporting customer supply chains.

Why eastern France, and what comes next?

For pharma manufacturers and their forwarders, the Entzheim opening adds dedicated GDP-grade cold-chain capacity in a corridor that links French production sites with European air freight and road networks. For CEVA, it deepens a healthcare franchise the company has been building as demand for specialised pharmaceutical storage and distribution services continues to develop — the company's own framing of the market driver behind the investment.

The Grand Est concentration — four sites, ~90,000 sqm — signals that CEVA intends to anchor pharma contract logistics in eastern France rather than treat it as a single-site bet. With 500-plus healthcare customers worldwide and demand for temperature-controlled capacity still growing, further additions to the French network look more likely than not.