A Durham-based biotech company working on gene therapy has raised $1 million in a private debt and option offering, according to a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

StrideBio Inc. raised the money from three investors, according to the filing, with the smallest investment totaling $90,000.

StrideBio develops engineered viral vectors for gene therapy. StrideBio’s technology engine utilizes structure-inspired design to engineer AAV vectors that can escape pre-existing neutralizing antibodies.

In April, the company announced it had struck a deal with Crispr Therapeutics to develop in vivo gene delivery applications. As part of the deal, StrideBio will receive development funding, milestones and royalties on licensed vectors, and retain certain rights to use the novel AAV vectors for gene therapy applications.

The technology is based on the work of Dr. Aravind Asokan at UNC-Chapel Hill and Dr. Mavis Agbandje-McKenna at the University of Florida.

Asokan leads the Laboratory for Synthetic Virology & Gene Therapy at UNC-Chapel Hill. Originally trained as a chemist, he has blended the fields of protein engineering, virology and genetics to generate several gene therapy platforms currently being evaluated in preclinical and clinical studies.

He is the lead inventor on several AAV patents licensed to multiple gene therapy companies. Asokan is an associate professor in the departments of genetics and biochemistry & biophysics at UNC-CH.

The company has received capital from Hatteras Venture Partners, a venture capital firm based in Durham with a focus on seed and early stage healthcare investing.

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.