Comparison of the Biofire FilmArray Respiratory Panel, Seegene AnyplexII RV16, and Argene for the detection of respiratory viruses

The overall performance of all three platforms appeared to be comparable with regards to sensitivities (95.8-97.9%) and specificities (96.1-98.0%), detection of coinfections, and distinguishment of influenza from non-influenza cases. “Equivocal” and “no-subtype” samples by FilmArray mostly represented weak Influenza A by laboratory-developed test. Lower respiratory tract samples had comparable final-run success-rates and discordant-rates as compared to UTM. Coronavirus HKU1, which was not targeted by AnyplexII RV16, were detected as OC43. The expected test volume would be the main determinant for the selection of platform. Among the platforms, the FilmArray is the most automated but is of the lowest-throughput and has the highest reagent cost.