Clinical usefulness of the "GeneSoC? SARS-CoV-2 N2 Detection Kit"

Objectives The GeneSoC (R) that launched recently enables the quantitative detection of target genes (in approximately 15 min) using microfluidic thermal cycling technology. Here, we compared the diagnostic performance of the "GeneSoC (R) SARS-CoV-2 N2 Detection Kit" (Kyorin assay) and conventional severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection assays to verify the clinical usefulness of the Kyorin assay. Methods Two hundred samples (100 nasopharyngeal and 100 saliva specimens) were collected from patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection between May 2020 and August 2021. Conventional SARS-CoV-2 detection assays were performed using the Japanese National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) assay, Ampdirect (TM) 2019-nCoV Detection Kit (SHIMADZU assay), and Lumipulse Presto SARS-CoV-2 Ag (FUJIREBIO assay), according to each manufacturer's instructions. Results Using the NIID and SHIMADZU assays as references, the positive and negative concordance rates and the kappa coefficient in the Kyorin assay were 96.9-97.9 %, 99.0-100.0 %, and 0.96-0.98, respectively. The positivity rate of the FUJIREBIO assay was slightly lower than that of the reference assay (p<0.05). Conclusions The Kyorin assay showed a favorable concordance rate with conventional SARS-CoV-2 detection assays, making it a useful, rapid, and high-performance assay for detecting SARS-CoV-2, which may lead to early diagnosis and appropriate treatment.