Phlotonics turns silicon photonics into real-time insight for the bioeconomy

Phlotonics turns silicon photonics into real-time insight for the bioeconomy

• September 14, 2026

Via the Rochester Business Journal

The most powerful, life-saving medicines in the world today are grown inside high-tech tanks filled with living cells. Yet, despite the sophistication of modern biopharma, the scientists and operators running these multi-million-dollar bioreactors are essentially flying blind. While basic metrics like temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen can be measured continuously, the molecules that actually determine whether a batch of medicine succeeds or fails - the proteins - are buried in a critical blind spot.

Crucial data regarding antibody levels, stress signals, and cell impurities are currently checked using slow, offline laboratory tests. By the time results come back hours or days later, the bioreactor has already drifted, meaning failed batches are diagnosed in retrospect rather than prevented mid-run. This missing data layer creates a massive bottleneck for U.S. biomanufacturing, causing misallocated factory time, delayed development timelines, and failed runs that cost millions of dollars.

Rather than allowing scientists to remain passive observers of their biological systems, Phlotonics, Inc. has created a solution. The local company is building molecular biosensor instruments that sit alongside bioreactors, giving manufacturers continuous, multiplexed visibility into the exact proteins powering every batch. Guided by the core conviction that "you can't industrialize what you can't measure," Phlotonics is turning biological forensics into active, in-process control.

Shifting from offline guesswork to live data

Traditional analytics force bioprocess teams to make difficult trade-offs. Standard laboratory assays are highly accurate but destructive and delayed, while optical alternatives like Raman spectroscopy can only track broad chemical changes, completely missing the specific proteins that decide a batch's fate.

Phlotonics eliminates this trade-off with an automated at-line system. By bringing together the speed of an inline sensor with the molecule-specific accuracy of an advanced lab test, the system reads critical markers like immunoglobulin G (IgG) and its aggregates, interleukin-6 (IL-6), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and host-cell proteins (HCP) simultaneously from a single sample loop. Instead of waiting hours and utilizing multiple separate laboratory instruments, operators receive a live, streaming data panel in mere minutes.

The technology has its roots in the University of Rochester lab of Benjamin Miller, PhD, who co-founded Phlotonics alongside CEO Mickey Bryan, PhD, and CTO Daniel Steiner, PhD. Bryan and Steiner spent years perfecting the silicon photonic ring resonator biosensors that now anchor the company's platform. These microscopic, light-powered chips are capable of instantly detecting protein bindings without the need for specialized chemical labels.

"One automated at-line panel replaces dozens of offline test plates, allowing bioprocess scientists to finally see what their cells are doing while the batch is running, instead of the morning after," explains Dr. Mickey Bryan, CEO of Phlotonics. "During a standard 10-day manufacturing run, when a probe flags an early stress excursion at hour 96, operators can step in immediately to protect the overall product yield at hour 240. This crucial window helps teams move from writing batch postmortems to actively saving their runs."

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