The Silent Role of Biofilms in Chronic Disease › Forums › Biofilm Community › The Environmental Laboratory › Innovotech’s MBEC Assay Approved as International Biofilm Standard
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Innovotech Inc., a pioneer in the field of biofilm product development, announces that its MBEC Assay has been approved as an ASTM International (ASTM) standard. The assay was validated for testing the effectiveness of hard-surface disinfectants formulated to kill biofilm. The MBEC Assay is a biofilm growth device, which allows for the rapid, reproducible and simultaneous evaluation of multiple test conditions against microorganisms in their natural, biofilm state.
“Currently, most disinfectants are evaluated using bacteria grown in suspension,” says Dr. Darla M. Goeres, assistant research professor, Center for Biofilm Engineering (CBE) at Montana State University, and a member of the ASTM Subcommittee E35 on Pesticides, Antimicrobials, and Alternative Control Agents. “This method enables companies to determine the efficacy of products against bacteria in their more natural state, and therefore provides a better approach for predicting the efficacy of disinfectants under real-use conditions.”
“The approval of the MBEC Assay as an ASTM standard represents a fundamental shift in how disinfectants will be evaluated on their effectiveness in protecting against harmful microorganisms,” says Ken Boutilier, president and CEO of Innovotech. “This approval paves the way for a new generation of disinfectants in the food industry and in hospitals, designed specifically to address the issue of biofilms, thereby reducing the number of deaths and sicknesses resulting from foodborne and infection related illnesses.”
Biofilms are organized communities of microorganisms that exist in virtually every natural environment. Biofilms can be up to 1000 times more resistant to treatment than the same organism in a free-floating state.
A recent report indicated that there are 76 million food-related illness a year, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths in the U.S., at a cost to the economy of $152 billion a year.
In addition to its MBEC Assay, Innovotech sells diagnostic kits that test bacterial susceptibility against antibiotics under biofilm conditions.
Sourced from Infection Today
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Innovotech product wins international seal of approval
BY JOURNAL STAFF WRITER, EDMONTONJOURNAL.COM
APRIL 21, 2011EDMONTON – A biofilm test kit made by a local firm has been given the seal of approval by a major international standards-setting body.
Innovotech Inc. (TSXV:IOT) said its MBEC Assay a plastic kit thats used for diagnostic and testing purposes has been approved as a new standard by U.S.-based ASTM International.
The kit, a biofilm growth device, has been validated by ASTM for testing how effective hard surface disinfectants are at killing biofilms communities of bacterial microorganisms that are often tough to fight.
Currently, most disinfectants are evaluated using bacteria grown in suspension, said Dr. Darla Goeres, a member of the ASTM subcommittee that reviewed Innovotechs product.
This method enables companies to determine the efficacy of products against bacteria in their more natural state, and therefore provides a better approach for predicting the efficacy of disinfectants under real-use conditions.
Ken Boutilier, Innovotechs CEO, said the ASTMs approval is expected to boost demand for the test kits, which sell for about $20 apiece, among corporate and academic research scientists.
This is really a tipping point for us, that a world recognized standards organization has accepted our technology, he said. It (reduces) the level of concern or scrutiny for every other regulatory agency in the world.
In particular, Boutilier said the approval is expected to boost demand for Innovotechs test kits among disinfectant makers.
Any of them that want to go to the EPA (the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) and ask for an anti-biofilm claim on a disinfectant would now have to use our technology to get this claim, he said.
We cant say specifically what the magnitude of volume will be, but we think its going to be large because they would also use it for quality-assurance testing.
Boutilier said the approval paves the way for a new generation of disinfectants in the food industry and in hospitals.
Innovotechs thinly traded shares last changed hands at 75 cents apiece on the TSX Venture Exchange.
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