Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Helicos BioSciences moves Lombardi up to CEO

By Mass High Tech Staff

Helicos BioSciences Corp., a developer of genetic analysis systems, has announced that the board of directors has appointed Steve Lombardi as CEO, following the departure of Stan Lapidus from the position. Lapidus will continue in the role of chairman of the board of directors for the company.

Lombardi, former president and COO of Helicos since October 2007, will continue in his post as president. Lombardi is credited with shifting Helicos (Nasdaq: HLCS) from a research and development firm to a commercial company, Lapidus said.

The new CEO will also bring his experience as senior vice president of sales and marketing at Helicos, a role he filled from June 2006 to October 2007.

Prior to his work at Helicos, Lombardi worked as vice president of Applied Biosystems Inc.’s DNA sequencing and genetic analysis business unit. He also served at senior vice president of Affymetrix Inc.

Helicos BioSciences announced in March that it had sold its first DNA sequencing system. The life sciences company’s DNA mapping system, called the Heliscope Sequencer, is reported to be the most advanced product of its kind on the market. Company insiders say the Heliscope is only a few years from providing the so-called $1,000 genome.

Helicos BioSciences reported a net loss in June 2008 of $11.9 million on quarterly revenue of $250,000.