Performance Evaluation of the PowerChek SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A & B Multiplex Real-Time PCR Kit in Comparison with the BioFire Respiratory Panel

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza viruses may pose enormous challenges to our healthcare system. We evaluated the performance of the PowerChek SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A & B Multiplex Real-time PCR Kit (PowerChek; Kogene Biotech, Seoul, Korea) in comparison with the BioFire Respiratory Panels 2 and 2.1 (RP2 and RP2.1; bioMérieux, Marcy l’Étoile, France), using 147 nasopharyngeal swabs. The limit of detection (LOD) of the PowerChek assay was determined using SARS-CoV-2, influenza A, and B RNA standards. The LOD values of the PowerChek assay for SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A and B were 1.12, 1.24, and 0.61 copies/μL, respectively. The positive and negative percent agreements of the PowerChek assay compared with RP2 and RP2.1 were 97.5% (39/40) and 100% (107/107) for SARS-CoV-2; 100% (39/39) and 100% (108/108) for influenza A; and 100% (35/35) and 100% (112/112) for influenza B, respectively. The performance of the PowerChek assay was comparable to that of RP2 and RP2.1 for detecting SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A and B, suggesting its use in diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 and influenza infections.