Comparative in silico design and validation of GPS™ CoVID‐19 dtec‐RT‐qPCR test

Martínez‐Murcia, A.; Bru, G.; Navarro, A.; Ros‐Tárraga, P.; García‐Sirera, A.; Pérez, L.

AIMS: Providing a ready‐to‐use reverse transcriptase qPCR (RT‐qPCR) method fully validated to detect the SARS‐CoV‐2 with a higher exclusivity than this shown by early published RT‐qPCR designs. METHODS AND RESULTS: The specificity of the GPS™ CoVID‐19 dtec‐RT‐qPCR test by analysis of sequence alignments was approached and compared with other RT‐qPCR designs. The GPS™ CoVID‐19 dtec‐RT‐qPCR test was validated following criteria of UNE/EN ISO 17025:2005 and ISO/IEC 15189:2012. Diagnostic validation was achieved by two independent reference laboratories, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, (Madrid, Spain), the Public Health England (Colindale, London, UK), and received the label CE‐IVD. The GPS design showed the highest exclusivity and passed all parameters of validation with strict acceptance criteria. Results from reference laboratories 100% correlated with these obtained by using reference methods and showed 100% of diagnostic sensitivity and specificity. CONCLUSIONS: The CE‐IVD GPS™ CoVID‐19 dtec‐RT‐qPCR test, available worldwide with full analytical and diagnostic validation, is the more exclusive for SARS‐CoV‐2 by far. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Considering the CoVID‐19 pandemic status, the exclusivity of RT‐qPCR tests is crucial to avoid false positives due to related coronaviruses. This work provides of a highly specific and validated RT‐qPCR method for detection of SARS‐CoV‐2, which represents a case of efficient transfer of technology successfully used since the pandemic was declared.