Abstract: The viscosity of 2-cyanoacrylate monomer based adhesives is increased by combining the monomers with suitable thickeners according to a certain process. The resulting formulations may be heat sterilized without degrading the viscosity or causing premature polymerization. The effectiveness of the sterilization process is assayed by disposing bacterial spores in the formulation, exposing it to a dry heat sterilization process, transferring it to a sterile aldose solution, transferring and exposing the sample to a nutrient medium which supports germination and growth of viable spores, incubating the samples, and determining the presence or absence of growth.