July 26, 2002 — Acusphere Inc., a Watertown, Mass., developer of specialty pharmaceuticals using microparticle technology, announced the completion of a $15 million seventh round of institutional financing, issued as Series J.

The round was led by Thomas Weisel Capital Partners. BA Venture Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, Alta Ventures, MVI Medical Ventures, Prism Venture Partners, BancBoston Ventures, Audax Group, Technology Funding, Boston University and CIT Group also participated. All were previous investors in the company.

The recent round brings company funding to a total of $80 million, which includes both venture rounds and corporate transactions. The funding should get the company “well into 2003 or into 2004,” according to James Fitzgerald, senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Fitzgerald said the company will use the funds to continue developing its ultrasound contrast agent for pulmonary imaging, its new formulation of the cancer drug paclitaxel, and a sustained release version of an asthma medication. “What we’re hoping to do with this financing is advance all of these candidates into the clinic,” he said, “to get far enough through trials to get human data, so we can have constructive discussions with large pharma.”

Acusphere was founded in 1993, partly based on technology developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It employs 55 people.