CHAPEL HILL – Sisu Pharma, which is developing drugs against a new target to treat prostate cancer, has raised roughly $1.7 million in equity, according to a securities filing.

One investor contributed to the round, which is capped at $4 million. The filing noted that the Chapel Hill-based startup is still seeking another $2.3 million.

Sisu Pharma, Inc. is founded by Duke University Medical Center professors: Dennis Thiele, professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and Jiaoti Huang, chair for the School of Medicine’s Department of Pathology.

The pair is developing drugs to treat prostate cancer in patients who have exhausted all therapeutic options. The company’s website is currently under construction.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men worldwide and there were over 1.3 million new cases of the disease globally in 2018.