The efficacy of commonly used antistaphylococcal antimicrobials (clindamycin, linezolid and vancomycin) and recently developed antibiotics (daptomycin and tigecycline) was compared against clinical isolates of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), minimum bactericidal concentrations, time-kill kinetics and biofilm-associated cell survival were examined for 12 clinical isolates of MRSA treated with each antibiotic. The MIC ranges for daptomycin, linezolid, tigecycline, clindamycin and vancomycin were 0.06-0.25, 1-2, 0.06, 0.125-1024 and 0.5-1 microg/mL, respectively. Daptomycin and vancomycin were bactericidal following 6h of incubation with planktonic cells, whilst clindamycin, linezolid and tigecycline were bacteriostatic. None of the antibiotics killed 100% of biofilm-associated cells. Mean cell survival in biofilms treated with clindamycin, daptomycin, linezolid, tigecycline and vancomycin was 62%, 4%, 45%, 43% and 19%, respectively. Although all antibiotics were effective against planktonic staphylococcal populations, vancomycin and daptomycin possessed superior activity against biofilm-associated cells.