Wilbraham's FloDesign Sonics makes major medical breakthroughs using sound waves

Photo Credit: Brian Steele

Later this year, several pharmaceutical firms are planning to take delivery of a machine that could transform the industry.

Into it, they will feed batches of Chinese hamster ovary cells. The cells will ooze proteins that will be captured by sound waves and then used in the production of life-saving injectable medications.

These machines and the technology they employ were developed by FloDesign Sonics, a big-idea company housed in an unassuming building at 380 Main St. in Wilbraham. Right now, once those proteins are collected, the cells die. But this new equipment is a major advancement: The cells survive the process and can be reused again and again, slashing the production time.

"This is the future of drugs," said Stanley Kowalski III, 46, the chairman and founding CEO, during a tour of the facility. "I like to call it the elixir of life. It just keeps giving and giving and giving."

Click here to read the full story