A European multicentre study on the comparison of HCV viral loads between VERIS HCV assay and COBAS TaqMan HCV Test and RealTime HCV Assay.

Background: Beckman Coulter has developed the VERIS HCV Assay for use on the new fully automated DxN VERIS Molecular Diagnostic System for HCV viral load monitoring.

Objectives: Evaluate the clinical performance of the new quantitative VERIS HCV Assay.

Study Design: Comparison was performed on 279 plasma specimens from HCV infected patients tested with the VERIS HCV Assay and COBAS Ampliprep/COBAS Taqman HCV Test and 369 specimens tested with the VERIS HCV Assay and RealTime HCV Assay. Patient monitoring sample results from four time points were also compared.

Results: The average bias between the VERIS HCV Assay and the COBAS Ampliprep/COBAS Taqman HCV Test was 0.04 logIU/mL, while between the VERIS HCV Assay and the RealTime HCV Assay average bias was 0.21 logIU/mL. Bias, however, was not consistent across the measuring range. Analysis at the lower end of quantification levels 50, 100, and 1000IU/mL showed a predicted bias for VERIS HCV Assay versus COBAS Ampliprep/COBAS Taqman HCV Test between -0.42 and -0.22 logIU/mL and for VERIS HCV Assay versus RealTime HCV Assay between 0.00 and 0.13 logIU/mL. Patient monitoring of HCV viral load over time demonstrated similar levels between VERIS HCV Assay results and COBAS Ampliprep/COBAS Taqman HCV Test (52 samples from 13 patients) and RealTime HCV Assay (112 samples from 28 patients).

Conclusions: VERIS HCV Assay for use on the DxN VERIS Molecular Diagnostic System represents a reliable new tool for easy sample to result HCV RNA viral load monitoring.