Biolife, Sarasota Medical Manufacturer, Consolidates Operations

Biolife has been manufacturing its WoundSeal products at 1249 and 1235 Tallavast Road in Sarasota since 1999. Problem is, the two addresses are at opposite ends of the same building. So the manufacturer recently moved into a new space at 8163 25th Court East.

The new 22,500-square-foot facility brings together all aspects of Biolife operations, according to President and CEO Sam Shake.

"It's much more efficient on several levels," says Shake. "On the operating level, you have manufacturing and shipping all in one place. Research and development and marketing are together. That dialogue is much more effective now. Finance and accounting are now together. It's much more conducive to communication. And there's three labs, 20-odd offices, a warehouse, packaging system, manufacturing space, lots of conference rooms."

Shake says basic modifications were necessary to make the space usable. "We put in a new air conditioning system, which was the biggest expense," he says. "We also built a lab and created manufacturing space; built a processing system and built some walls. And we painted, fixed lights and cleaned the carpets -- all the typical improvements."

WoundSeal is Biolife's consumer product. "It's what you see in Walgreens. We have a whole other line of business for the healthcare industry called BioSeal. It's basically the same device, but comes in sterile packages with accompanying products for medical procedures. Our product creates a barrier around the incision and prevents bleeding and infection."

Shake says the new space will allow Biolife to expand into national markets."We started our test market for WoundSeal, with Walgreens in Sarasota and Manatee County. As of last week, we're in 200 stores. We want to go national with Walgreens and CVS and Publix. And we'd like to bring BioSeal into more hospitals nationwide."

Writer: Missy Kavanaugh
Source: Sam Shake, Biolife