DURHAM —  Emergo Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical startup founded by serial entrepreneur Moise Khayrallah, has raised roughly $3.5 million in equity, according to a recent securities filing.

Seventy seven investors contributed to the round, which is capped at around $5 million.

Proceeds will be used for working capital, the filing noted, “which may include normal compensation to executive officers.”

Emergo is developing a single drug candidate, norketotifen, for treating flu and flu-like illnesses. The compound works by modulating the immune system’s response to viral infection.

Khayrallah and Robin Hyde-DeRuyscher, Emergo’s co-founder and chief scientific officer, positioned the company for the venture round with the help of a $75,000 Company Inception Loan from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in 2017.

It has since raised around $15 million to date, including this latest raise.

Will Durham’s Emergo Therapeutics be fourth big startup hit for Moise Khayrallah?