Ekos, a Bothell company that combines ultrasound and drugs to break up blood clots, announced $26 million in venture capital financing today to build its sales effort and reach for profitability.

The company has hired two executives to head sales and marketing of its lead product, a combination catheter and ultrasound device that is used to clear blood clots in veins and arteries of the extremities. One part of the device delivers clot-busting drugs, while a thin ultrasound-emitting core inserted into the clot allows the drug to penetrate deeper.

The Ekos Lysus Peripheral Infusion System went on sale in January and the company expects it to generate $7 million in revenue this year and $20 million in 2007, said Chairman and CEO Peter Rule.

He said the company has a sales staff of 15 around the country and expects to double that next year. The company has 80 employees in Bothell.

Ekos is targeting interventional radiologists and vascular surgeons who treat peripheral arterial occlusions and deep vein thrombosis, markets worth a combined $750 million, Rule said.

Stroke represents a much bigger potential market for Ekos' other product, the Micro-Infusion Catheter. The National Institutes of Health plans to launch a large clinical trial using the device next month, Rule said. Earlier studies of the device have shown it was better than other catheters at clearing blockages in brain arteries in patients who had ischemic stroke.

Ekos has received a total of $60 million in venture funding since 2001, including the financing announced today.

"We expect to be profitable within this money," Rule said.

Ascension Health Ventures led the round. New investors are Oakwood Medical Investors and Trellis Health Ventures. Returning investors are CID Equity Capital, EGS Private Healthcare Investors, MedVenture Associates, Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners, Morgan Stanley Venture Partners and NGN Capital.

Benjamin J. Romano: bromano@seattletimes.com

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