Friday, September 23, 2011

Helicos downsizes Cambridge office and lab space

By Julie M. Donnelly, Boston Business Journal

Helicos BioSciences (OTC: HLCS.PK) has amended its Cambridge lease for the seventh time, shrinking its office and lab space to 6,689 square feet, from 53,562 square feet a little over a year ago.

The move comes as the life sciences company moves to cut costs due to lagging demand for its DNA sequencing machines. Helicos had just $1.6 million in cash on hand as of June 30, 2011, the company reported.

Helicos had already given up 27,298 square feet in space at their One Kendall Square headquarters in June 2010, and an additional 7,245 square feet in December 2010, regulatory documents show. This newest lease amendment with landlord RB Kendall Fee LLC, cuts the remaining space by more than half, to 6,689 square feet from 16,782 square feet.

The initial lease was signed Dec. 30, 2005, and the latest amendment extends the lease to December 2012. However, Helicos can terminate the lease before that by giving at least 60 days notice.

The rent will fall to $16,722.50, inclucing taxes and utilities. But Helicos still owes $54,757.82 for July rent in the larger space. The amended lease says that Helicos must pay half of this up-front, and the other half spread out over the rest of the lease.

Helicos was knocked off the Nasdaq stock exchange in November 2010 for failing to meet the minimum $50 million market value requirement, and the company has pared its staff down to 40 from a high of about 250 in 2008.

The company has launched a patent infringement lawsuit against its competitors, blaming them for poor sales of its sequencing machines.

Helicos trades on the pink sheets and its stock closed at 13 cents per share on Sept. 22.