Evaluation of a new random-access HBV DNA molecular assay: The VERIS HBV assay

Detection and quantification of HBV DNA are essential to diagnose chronic HBV infection, monitor the virological response to treatment and the possible selection of resistant viruses in order to tailor therapy. The VERIS/MDx System HBV Assay is a random-access system that quantifies HBV DNA in clinical samples using unique single sample and reagent access during the workflow process without the need to reload other tests and delivers results within 1.2h following sampling.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the analytical performance of the VERIS HBV assay for HBV DNA detection and quantification in clinical samples from a series of patients chronically infected with different HBV genotypes.

The specificity of the VERIS HBV assay was estimated to be over 99.5%. The limit of detection (LOD) was estimated to be 4.1IU/mL (95%CI: 3.20-5.90IU/mL). Using an HBV linearity panel and controls (Seracare LifeScience), intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation ranged from 0.12% to 3.64% and from 1.05% to 7.35%, respectively. The influence of the HBV genotype was evaluated from 120 clinical specimens containing HBV genotypes A to G tested in parallel with the VERIS HBV assay and the COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HBV v2.0 assay. A linear relationship between the HBV DNA levels measured with both assays was found. A modest bias of HBV DNA levels was observed in the VERIS assay as compared to CAP/CTM HBV v2.0 in most of the samples tested (mean VERIS minus CAP/CTM difference: -0.395 log IU/mL). Overall, the VERIS HBV assay is well suited to monitoring clinical HBV DNA levels in infected patients according to current clinical practice guidelines.