Industry is increasingly in need of standard biofilm analytical protocols for determining the efficacy of antimicrobials for killing biofilm bacteria and for making biofilm control product claims. We know of no recognized, standard antimicrobial biofilm protocols. In response to the existing need, the CBE Standard Biofilm Methods laboratory works in concert with other CBE research and development teams to develop and apply repeatable, relevant and efficient protocols for quantifying antimicrobial activity against biofilm. The SBM team maintains a database from numerous biofilm growth and control studies and conducts rigorous statistical evaluations of each potentially useful protocol. Our goal is to create methods for industry's use in product development and claims support. A key objective is nomination and official acceptance of these methods as standard biofilm analytical methods by an appropriate organization such as AOAC, ASTM, or ISO.

We provide workshops to teach biofilm standard methods to our industrial audience.