Helicos Biosciences
Helicos BioSciences Corporation, HLCS is a publicly-traded life science company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts focused on genetic analysis technologies for the research, drug discovery and diagnostic markets. The company has developed the Helicos™ Genetic Analysis Platform, combining the first technology and instrument system capable of true direct DNA measurement for the scientific community.
Helicos was co-founded in 2003 by life science entrepreneur Stanley Lapidus, Stephen Quake, a professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics at Stanford University, and Noubar Afeyan, managing partner of Flagship Ventures. The company began operations in February 2004 and received backing in Series A and Series B funding from a group of investors that included Atlas Venture, Flagship Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, MPM Capital and Versant Ventures. Most recently, Helicos announced a senior secured credit facility with GE Healthcare Financial Services, which will support working capital and commercialization efforts.
The Helicos Platform is based on the company’s proprietary True Single Molecule Sequencing (tSMS)™ technology, and consists of the HeliScope™ Single Molecule Sequencer, the world’s first DNA Microscope, and the HeliScope™ Analysis Engine for near real-time image analysis, proprietary flow cells, and single-molecule grade assay reagents. The platform is designed to deliver $1,000 genome performance, and enables the analysis of large quantities of genetic material with the direct sequencing of single molecules of DNA or single DNA copies of RNA.
The shipment of the first Helicos System to Expression Analysis in March and the publication of an April report in Science Magazine that explored the first single molecule sequencing of the M13 viral genome using tSMS technology were inflection points for the company in 2008, as these milestones marked important achievements in genomic analysis and measurement science. Additionally, Helicos recently forged a research collaboration with City of Hope Cancer Center, which will focus on the use of tSMS technology for the examination of known cancer-associated gene variants and the potential discovery of new mutations within those genes.
The Helicos leadership team includes Stanley Lapidus, chairman & CEO, and Stephen Lombardi, president & COO.
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