DUB Biologics, a Syracuse-based company established in March 2022, is working to develop a therapeutic that helps reduce fibrosis, also known as scarring.

“The therapeutic is really targeting a protein that exists in the pathway of Fibrosis. While fibrosis is not a specific disease, it encompasses many different tissues that is involved or is the underlying mechanism for pathology for a lot of different diseases,” said Tere Williams, the CEO and co-founder of DUB Biologics.

Audrey Bernstein, the company’s chief scientific officer and co-founder, began research about 15 years ago.

“The importance of scarring in the skin is not only for cosmetic reasons we’re interested, but of course there’s many kinds of unhealed wounds. These are like diabetic wounds or bedsores or infections where wounds don’t heal,” Bernstein said.

Last month, Saratoga Springs hosted the New York State Innovation Summit, which brought together more than 500 innovators and collaborators. DUB Biologics was one of six winners that received $50,000 to pursue further investment in the company.

Bernstein wants to create a therapeutic that will help heal the wounds, and receiving funding puts them a step closer to achieving that.

“This helps us further the therapeutic in the pipeline so that we can get into clinical trials, safety and efficacy in people, and down the road, FDA approval,” Bernstein said.

Williams added that getting through the clinical trial process isn’t cheap — the average cost of developing a therapeutic is currently between $1-2 billion before a single sale is made. The project will take about 10 years, Williams said.

However, Williams said once an investor buys into a company, there’s a snowball effect, leading to other investors joining, too.

For Bernstein and Williams, being women in STEM means changing the face of what science looks like.

“Being in the position that I am really just allows me to leverage being able to communicate and inspire a next generation of scientists,” Williams said.