“The determination of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype is mandatory to tailor peginterferon-ribavirin treatment dose and duration. Subtype determination is likely to become useful to tailor specific HCV inhibitor therapy and interpret resistance profiles in the near future. The new VERSANT Genotype Assay (LiPA), a second generation line probe assay, contains probes targeting both the 5’ non coding and the core regions of the viral genome. This has improved the accuracy of HCV genotype 1 subtype determination, particularly discrimination between subtypes 1a and 1b, the most frequent HCV subtypes in clinical practice. The assay also displays improved discrimination among HCV genotypes 1 and 6 relative to the previous version. Only 4% of clinical specimens are mistyped with the VERSANT Genotype Assay relative to the reference method (direct sequence analysis of the NS5B region), which makes it the most accurate method for use in clinical practice. The assay is user-friendly and provides quick results.”
Stèphane Chevaliez
Assistant Hospitalier Universitaire
Centre National de Référence des Hépatites B, C et delta
Laboratoire de Virologie et Inserm U841
Hospital Henri Mondor
Universite Paris XII
94010 CRETEIL, FRANCE