Tempo Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on novel, intelligently designed nanoparticle-based drugs, recently announced that it has closed an $8.1 million Series B financing.

The company also announced that the proceeds from the financing will be used to accelerate the development of Tempo’s preclinical pipeline of multi-compartmental, nanoparticle-based drugs that have the potential to substantially improve the efficacy and safety of existing and new therapeutics.

Existing venture investors Polaris Venture Partners of Waltham, MA, Venrock of New York, NY, and Lux Capital of New York, NY were joined by Bessemer Venture Partners of Wellesley, MA. Also participating were Alexandria Real Estate Equities and existing investor William H. Rastetter, Ph.D. (former executive chairman of Biogen Idec and a partner at Venrock). Tempo previously closed its $12.1 million Series A round in May, 2007 and its $2 million seed round in December of 2006.

“This new influx of capital at a significantly increased valuation, which brings the total raised within the last year to more than $22 million, reflects the growing excitement and recognition of our unique platform as well as our rapid progress as a company,” said Alan Crane, CEO of Tempo Pharmaceuticals and a venture partner at Polaris. “This funding allows the continued advancement of our preclinical pipeline towards human clinical trials and will support the generation of data to enable strategic partnerships with leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.”

Based on technology exclusively licensed from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tempo is focused on significantly improving the efficacy and safety profile of existing and new drugs employing advances in nanotechnology. The Company utilizes its proprietary Nanocell technology to develop multi-compartmental, nanoparticle-based therapeutics in which two drugs with varied release rates are packaged within a single nanoparticle. This approach allows for sequential delivery of drugs, optimizing the location, rate of release and synergistic effect of the two therapies while minimizing toxicities.

“Bessemer views nanopharmaceuticals, and in particular, Tempo’s approach to nanopharmaceuticals, as an unprecedented investment opportunity within the marketplace,” said Christopher Gabrieli, Senior Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners. “We believe this science and technology has the potential to dramatically improve the way diseases are treated, and more specifically, that Tempo has the leading platform and proven management team in place to rapidly develop a portfolio of next generation therapeutics.”

Using its proprietary Nanocell technology, Tempo is developing a deep pipeline of preclinical candidates. Its current focus is on application of the technology to both existing and novel drugs for oncology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Tempo Pharmaceuticals is a private biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel, nanotechnology-based therapeutics in the areas of oncology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The Company has assembled a world-class management team, board of directors and scientific advisory board that collectively have a significant track record of business building, product development and scientific breakthroughs from companies and institutions such as Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Pharmacia, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Medical School, MD Anderson, Fox Chase Cancer Center and the Arizona Health Center. Tempo is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

For more information, please visit www.tempopharmaceuticals.com