Dr. Lucas Rodriguez co-founded and was CEO of CerSci Therapeutics from 2015 till August 2020 when CerSci was acquired by ACADIA Pharmaceuticals for a total deal value of ~$940 million. CerSci is a clinical non-opioid drug development firm concentrating its efforts on developing analgesic drug products without the deleterious side effects of current pain treatments on the market. Since inception, CerSci has received approval of their first Investigational New Drug Application from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This milestone allowed the organization to transition into clinical development through the FDA, and continued on to complete its Phase I clinical trial evaluating safety and tolerability in healthy human volunteers under his leadership. During his tenure, Lucas led the acquisition of their lead pharmaceutical program, the continued pre-clinical development of the asset, equity fundraising to support the organization, the IND-enablement of the program to support clinical trials, and the clinical development through Phase I prior to successful acquisition by ACADIA.

Lucas received his MS and PhD degrees in Biomedical Engineering from The University of Texas at Dallas studying novel bioactive bone cement for orthopedic and craniofacial surgery and new vented dental implant abutments for the mitigation of residual excess dental luting cement in cement-retained crown prosthetics after receiving his BS in biology with a minor in chemistry from Baylor University in 2010. During graduate school Dr. Rodriguez pursued a concentration in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at The University of Texas at Dallas Naveen Jindal School of Management. He has over 10 years of project management experience in high-tech biomedical and biotherapeutic industries. He has developed his career in business development concentrating on strategy, business model development, fundraising and funding strategies, negotiation, corporate legal acumen, sales, and licensing/acquisitions.