Drug discovery and development company Scynexis, which is in midstage clinical development of a novel hepatitis C treatment, is getting closer to reaching its $15 million fundraising target.

Scynexis has raised nearly $11.5 million so far, according to an amended securities filing. The fundraiser, a mix of equity, debt, options and warrants, launched in December. Sycnexis has raised money from 11 investors to date, according to the filing.

Scynexis’ main business is providing services to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with their drug discovery and development efforts. That work generated $18 million in 2011 revenue for the Durham, North Carolina-based company. But Scynexis also aims to develop its own drugs. The company’s drug pipeline is based on cyclophilin inhibitors. The company says this class of drug candidates has the potential to treat a broad range of diseases.

Lead Scynexis compound SCY-635 is being studied as a new hepatitis C treatment. The compound works by reactivating the body’s natural defense mechanism, which in turn inhibits replication of the virus. The current standard of treatment for hepatitis C is recombinant interferon, an injectable treatment that can cause side effects that include headache, fever and chills. SCY-635 offers a potential alternative in the form of a pill that comes with fewer side effects.

[Photo from Flickr user zack-attack]