Summary of HELICOS BIOSCIENCES CORP

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors;
Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

(e) On December 11, 2008, the Compensation Committee (the "Committee") of the Board of Directors of Helicos BioSciences Corporation (the "Company") approved an employee retention program (the "Retention Program") to retain certain key executive officers in connection with the realignment of the Company. As part of the Retention Program, the Committee approved a Corporate Officer Severance Plan (the "Plan") substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit 10.1.

Under the Plan, in the event that their employment with the Company is terminated without Cause prior to a Change in Control (as such terms are defined in the Plan), the following of the Company's executive officers will be eligible to receive, upon the execution of a release of claims, executive level outplacement services and the following severance benefits:

                                                                  Healthcare
Name                                 Severance Pay          Continuation Benefits
J. William Efcavitch, Senior    6 months of Base Pay      6 months post termination.
Vice President, Chief           (as defined in the
Technology Officer              Plan).
Stephen P. Hall, Senior Vice    4 months of Base Pay      4 months post termination.
President, Chief Financial      (as defined in the
Officer                         Plan).
Marc S. Levine, Senior Vice     6 months of Base Pay      6 months post termination.
President, Research &           (as defined in the
Development                     Plan).

The above summary of the Plan does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Plan, a copy of which is filed as Exhibit 10.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated into this Item 5.02 by reference.