DUB Therapeutics, an Upstate Medical University-based start-up creating siRNA therapeutic that aims to prevent corneal scarring and inflammation and promote regenerative healing, has won the $10,000 Alan W. Rothschild Innovation Award at the Biotech Innovation Pitch. 

The Alan W. Rothschild Innovation Award honors Rothschild’s life, which was one of creativity and entrepreneurial spirit and provides support to individuals and startups who demonstrate excellence in innovation. Its purpose is to further the development and advancement of emerging science and new technologies.

A panel of five judges selected DUB Therapeutics after listening to brief pitches from the five competitors at the Biotech Innovation Pitch Competition Oct. 27 at CNY Biotech Accelerator.

DUB Therapeutic co-founders, DUB Tx’s CSO Upstate Professor Audrey Bernstein, PhD, and CEO Tere Williams, are hoping to change how corneal injuries and scarring that can lead to vision loss are treated. As inflammation is a major part of the scarring response, a mix of antibiotics and corticosteroids are often currently prescribed. Steroids produce inconsistent results and well-established adverse events that include cataracts and glaucoma.

The available treatments are also time-consuming; the current dosage for some prescriptions can be required as frequently as 4 times/day for over a month. DUB Tx’s therapeutic is made of a self-delivering siRNA (sdRNA) that can penetrate cells without additional reagents. One dose of sdRNA lasts 2-3 months to prevent scarring and promote wound closure in the eye. 

The Rothschild Award is one of several honors DUB Therapeutics has collected in recent years. In 2023 it was awarded the $50,000 top prize at the SUNY Start Up Summer School (S4) Demo Day, and two months later they won a $50,000 grant at a commercialization competition by FuzeHub. In 2022 DUB Therapeutics took second place in the Inclusive Innovation Pitch Competition.

The other finalists at the Biotech Innovation Pitch Competition did not walk away empty handed. They were awarded $2,500 each. They include Pretip, which is creating a pocket- EEG device; BiRed Imaging, which is developing a multispectral imaging system for early detection of breast cancer; Azimuth Biologics, which is developing a monoclonal antibody therapy for treating or preventing infectious diseases; and Triton Bio, which is building an automated Petri dish with imaging capabilities for microbiologists. 

The finalists are all clients of the CNY Biotech Accelerator.

Judges for the event included longtime Upstate Foundation donors Ann and David Rothschild, sponsors of Alan W. Rothschild Innovation Award; Vicki Quigley; Eileen M. Pezzi, Upstate vice president for development and executive director of the Upstate Foundation; Winthrop H. Thurlow, executive director of LifeSciencesNY and Michael Hausladen, general manager of LOTTE Biologics.

Caption: Celebrating the presentation of the Alan W. Rothschild Innovation Award are, from left, Michael Hausladen, Kathi Durdon, executive director of the CNY Biotech Accelerator; Vicki Quigley; David Rothschild; Audrey Bernstein, PhD; Ann Rothschild, Tere Williams; Eileen Pezzi and Winthrop Thurlow. Bernstein and Williams are co-founders of DUB Therapeutics, winner of the Alan W. Rothschild Innovation Award $10,000 Biotech Innovation Pitch.