Biotech company Fennec Pharmaceuticals Inc. has raised $7.6 million in a private equity offering, according to a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The money came from seven investors who purchased 1.9 million shares at $4 per share, according to the filing.

Essetifin SpA, which owned 2.6 million shares, or 19.2 percent, of Fennec prior to the offering, purchased an additional 300,000 shares and now owns more than 21 percent of the Durham-based company.

Fennec said it will use the money to develop one of its drugs and for general corporate purposes.

“The investment and support received by both existing and new investors, including venBio Select Advisor, significantly strengthens the company’s balance sheet,” said CEO Rosty Raykov in a statement.

Fennec Pharmaceuticals is a small stage biotechnology company focused on the development of sodium thiosulfate for the prevention of loss of hearing in pediatric cancer patients.

Children undergoing chemotherapy face the loss of hearing. Fennec Pharma hopes that sodium thiosulfate will allow these children to keep their hearing and prevent permanent disability.

The drug has received orphan drug designation, which means it is intended for the safe and effective treatment, diagnosis or prevention of rare diseases and disorders that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S.

Last month, a New York-based investment firm purchased a 5 percent stake in the company, stating that it felt the stock was “undervalued.”

Fennec’s publicly traded shares rose 23 cents, or 5.4 percent, to $4.42 on Thursday.

Companies relying on a Reg D exemption do not have to register their offering of securities with the SEC, but they must file what’s known as a Form D electronically after they first sell their securities.