BOTHELL – Ekos Corp., which has spent more than a decade inventing ultrasound-enhanced catheters that can quickly break up blood clots, is ready to sell the device to doctors around the world.
The company on Tuesday announced that it had raised $26 million to establish a sales and marketing team.
“This has been a 10-year persistent struggle to perfect the technology to this point,” said Doug Hansmann, chief operating officer and a co-founder of Bothell-based Ekos.
The Food and Drug Administration already has cleared Ekos’ flagship products. The Lysus catheter improves the delivery of drugs to a clot point by using tiny transducers that send out low-power ultrasound frequencies.
The catheter’s effectiveness has been demonstrated in patients with peripheral arterial blockages, which can lead to strokes and heart attacks, and deep-vein thrombosis, a condition that can occur when a person sits for long periods of time.
A second catheter product with similar ultrasound technology built in has been approved for delivering diagnostic contrast dyes to the brain. A phase 2 study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health is looking at whether the device also can help treat strokes.
The latest investment in the privately held company was led by Ascension Health Ventures, along with nine other financing firms. Hansmann noted that 70 percent of the investors that participated in earlier financing rounds took part in the latest one as well.
“This financing will take us all the way through 2007,” he said, adding that the company aims to be at the break-even point by late 2007. With about 100 employees, Ekos is planning to move into a much larger manufacturing space in Bothell in the near future, Hansmann said.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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