Advancing Biofilm Technologies: The National Biofilms Innovation Centre

Established in 2017 by the Universities of Liverpool, Edinburgh, Nottingham, and Southampton with funding from BBSRC and Innovate UK, the UK’s National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC) is driving research, innovation, skills, entrepreneurship, and policy in biofilm technologies, addressing the grand challenges important to the UK’s future prosperity.

NBIC unites a consortium of over 300 industry collaborators to tackle the grand challenges of biofilms, delivering scientific breakthroughs, commercial opportunities, and societal benefits. NBIC accelerates translation from research to real-world impact and is building the talent pipeline to secure the UK’s global leadership in biofilm science and innovation.

The Challenge

Microbes create sophisticated communities called biofilms where numerous microorganisms live together and are attached to surfaces. The global impact of biofilms on the world economy is > $5tn p.a. They constitute 80% of infections, compromise medical devices and foment Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), predicted to cause 10 million deaths by 2050. Biofilms create severe problems for the £15 billion personal healthcare sector and cause spoilage in the £70 billion UK food sector and contamination across water, oil, gas, net zero and marine industries.

Liverpool’s Novel Surface Technology at the Frontline

The onset of biofilms occurs when microorganisms attach and colonise a surface. Preventing and controlling biofilm formation is a powerful strategy, stopping the problem at the onset. NBIC-Liverpool is pioneering innovation in next-generation antimicrobial, anti-biofilm and anti-viral surfaces and coatings.

NBIC-Liverpool has already delivered significant impact through its strategic partnerships with leading global companies, including Unilever, NSG Pilkington (part of the NSG Group) and a diverse range of SMEs, driving transformative innovation across multiple industrial sectors. Through these powerful academic and industry collaborations, NBIC has catalysed investments in 90 technologies, nurtured the creation of 13 spin-out companies, delivered 43 Intellectual Property (IP) filings, and supported the career development of 75 PhD students. Together, these achievements demonstrate NBIC Liverpool’s pivotal role in translating cutting-edge research into real-world innovation, economic growth, and societal benefit.

NBIC-Liverpool’s Global Biofilm Centre of Excellence for Regional Growth

Building on this success, there is now a transformative opportunity for NBIC-Liverpool to establish a world-first Centre of Excellence in Advanced Biofilm Technologies. By combining its state-of-the-art platforms in surface and materials engineering and imaging platforms with high-throughput discovery, AI and ML, the Centre will accelerate industrial innovation, create high value jobs, upskill workforces and attract investment and companies into the Liverpool City Region (LCR).

The expansion will drive a dynamic regional innovation ecosystem by connecting universities, SMEs, multinationals, and healthcare providers to accelerate the translation of frontier interdisciplinary science into commercial and clinical innovation. This covers areas across AMR, infection control, med-tech, hygiene, and resilient infrastructure across health, energy and marine. NBIC-Liverpool will remove barriers to translation and de-risk technologies to speed up market entry, attract global investment, and strengthen the LCR industry’s international leadership. The centre will also enable companies to navigate regulatory pathways more efficiently and pioneer global biofilm testing methods. Alongside this, it will build a strong pipeline of skilled scientists and innovators while upskilling the existing R&D workforce to drive sustainable growth and innovation across sectors.

For further information, please contact Professor R Raval, NBIC-Liverpool Director: raval@liverpool.ac.uk

Image credit: Test Biofilm Platform to Assess Oral Technologies for Unilever. University of Liverpool.