158-P: NGSengine EARLY ACCESS PROGRAM: FINDINGS IN A MULTICENTER EVALUATION

Aim NGS technology is developing fast and has come to a point where it can be applied routinely. Many HLA typing laboratories are considering introducing NGS technologies in their diagnostics routines. To facilitate HLA typing by NGS, we developed NGS-g o ®, a generic HLA gene amplification strategy, and NGSengine®, a software package to perform HLA typing based on NGS data. Methods An NGS Early Access Program (EAP) was set up to determine if our NGS solutions fulfill the needs and requirements of users within the HLA field. This EAP gives laboratories the chance to evaluate both NGS-g o ® and NGSengine® with their NGS instrument of choice, and even more important, it gives laboratories influence on the design of the software package.In the NGS EAP over 20 laboratories from various geographical regions participated. All labs were given access to NGS-go® reagents and NGSengine® software and were stimulated to provide feedback on the performance. Based on their feedback, NGSengine® was adjusted and significantly improved. During the EAP new updates of NGSengine® are monthly released. Results Based on feedback received, the profiles of the participating labs were determined. Here, we present the NGS experience feedback received from the participating labs. We will also present statistics on the equipment used in the participating labs and show the laboratory profiles of the labs using NGS. Conclusions • 5 different platforms were evaluated by more than 20 participating labs located world-wide • Participating labs had very variable levels of NGS experience • Participating labs possess different favorite NGS platforms • Many of the participating labs are in the early days of HLA testing with NGS and have not yet established a workflow • Valuable feedback was obtained from participants for furtherimprovement of NGSengine®. Penning: GenDx: Employee. Kooter: GenDx: Employee. Ruzius: GenDx: Employee. Mulder: GenDx: Employee; Stockholder. Rozemuller: GenDx: Employee; Stockholder.