Performance Evaluation of the MatMaCorp COVID-19 2SF Assay for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2 from Nasopharyngeal Swabs

• Published in: Microbiology spectrum Vol. 9; no. 1; p. e0008321
• Main Authors: Craney, Arryn, Petrik, Dustin, Suhku, Ashley, Qiu, Yuqing, Racine-Brzostek, Sabrina, Rennert, Hanna, Piscatelli, Heather, Rathnaiah, Govardhan, Hangman, Alyssa, Carrie, Michael, Cushing, Melissa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Society for Microbiology 03.09.2021
• Subjects: Clinical Microbiology; COVID-19; COVID-19 - diagnosis; COVID-19 Testing - methods; Diagnostic Tests, Routine; Humans; MatMaCorp; Molecular Diagnostic Techniques - methods; Nasopharynx - virology; point of care; Research Article; RT-PCR; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2 - isolation & purification; Sensitivity and Specificity; Solas 8; Specimen Handling; COVID-19; MatMaCorp; SARS-CoV-2; point of care; Solas 8; RT-PCR
• ISSN: 2165-0497; 2165-0497
• DOI: 10.1128/Spectrum.00083-21

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has taken an unprecedented toll on clinical diagnostic testing, and the need for PCR-based testing remains to be met. Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) is the recommended method for the diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) due to the inherent advantages in sensitivity and specificity. In this study, we evaluated the performance of the MatMaCorp COVID-19 2SF test, a reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assay for the qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 from nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs, run on the Solas 8 instrument (MatMaCorp, Lincoln, NE). The Solas 8 device is portable, and the kit is a lab-in-a-box design which provides reagents in a shelf-stable lyophilized powder format. A total of 78 remnant clinical specimens were used to evaluate the COVID-19 2SF test. Sixty-two clinical specimens originally tested by the Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 assay (Cepheid, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA) were used to evaluate the clinical accuracy of the COVID-19 2SF test. The negative percent agreement (NPA) was 100% (95% confidence interval [CI], 83.9% to 100%), and the positive percent agreement (PPA) was 85.4% (95% CI, 70.8% to 94.4%). Sixteen remnant specimens positive for other common respiratory pathogens (FilmArray respiratory panel 2.0; BioFire, Salt Lake City, UT) were assayed on the Solas 8 device to evaluate specificity. No cross-reactivity with other respiratory pathogens was identified. The unique lab-in-a-box design and shelf-stable reagents of the MatMaCorp COVID-19 2SF test offer laboratories a rapid option for a diagnostic NAAT for SARS-CoV-2 that can help meet diagnostic needs. The demand for molecular testing for COVID-19 remains to be met. This study of the MatMaCorp Solas 8 device and COVID-19 test provides the first evaluation of this platform.