Helicos BioSciences Corporation Announces Appointment of Ivan Trifunovich as President and CEO
-Helicos Introduces Single Molecule Sequencing Technology Licensing Program-
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o Helicos BioSciences Corporation
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Press Release Source: Helicos BioSciences Corporation On Thursday October 14, 2010, 4:51 pm EDT
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Helicos BioSciences Corporation (NASDAQ:HLCS - News) announced today that its Board of Directors has appointed Dr. Ivan Trifunovich as the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Trifunovich has served as a senior consultant to the Helicos Board of Directors and was elected to serve as Executive Chairman of the Board of Helicos on September 15, 2010. Ron Lowy, who stepped in as CEO at the board’s request will return to his role as a board member. Helicos today also announced the launch of a technology licensing program for its Single Molecule Sequencing Platform.
Commenting on behalf of the Helicos Board of Directors, company’s co-founder Stan Lapidus said, “As a result of hard work by Ron and the Helicos management team the HeliScope sequencing platform has continued to advance in performance and applications, while the Company’s intellectual property portfolio has been significantly strengthened. We appreciate Ron’s leadership during the past two years and look forward to his continued contributions on the Board.”
“I am excited to take over the leadership of Helicos during this critical time as we introduce our technology licensing program,” said Dr. Trifunovich. “We intend to create the maximum value from our strong intellectual property portfolio in single molecule sequencing, which we consider to be an absolute requirement for anyone competing in the rapidly growing next-generation, single molecule sequencing market.”
“Helicos was the first to invent and market single molecule sequencing technology and has established a comprehensive patent estate with the earliest priority dates in the field,” continued Dr. Trifunovich. “We are pleased to announce that our foundational patents will be made available to encourage broad commercialization of genetic sequencing-by-synthesis and other related technologies. We plan to leverage this broad intellectual property estate that covers all sequencing-by-synthesis methods through licensing, partnering and enforcement strategies. Our plan is to vigorously defend our IP rights.” The Helicos licensing portfolio includes approximately 48 issued patents and 90 applications.
Most recently, Dr. Trifunovich served as a strategic consultant to global companies in the life sciences industry. Previously, Dr. Trifunovich served as the Senior Vice President of Third Wave Technologies, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company, from December 2001 through August 2008. Prior to joining Third Wave Technologies, Inc., Dr. Trifunovich held successive positions of increasing responsibility in sales and marketing and R&D with large pharmaceutical companies. During his tenure in large pharma, he was the named inventor on multiple patents related to the semi-synthesis of TAXOL®. Dr. Trifunovich received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at UCLA and an M.B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
Additional information can be found in Helicos' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009, as filed with the SEC on April 15, 2010, together with its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the first second quarter 2010, as filed with the SEC on August 16, 2010. These reports include a discussion regarding the company's need to raise capital to pursue its new business of developing molecular diagnostic tests, disclosures regarding the company's operational results and liquidity position, and additional disclosures regarding other risks and uncertainties faced by Helicos.