Rick Hawkins is Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of Lumos Pharma. Previously, Mr. Hawkins founded Pharmaco and as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, he managed the growth of that organization to over 700 employees. Pharmaco offered a full range of clinical drug development services to the pharmaceutical industry, including Phase I-IV clinical trials and analytical chemistry services. The company merged with Applied Bioscience International. Mr. Hawkins managed their 2000 employee international Research & Development operations. Pharmaco merged with PPD of Wilmington, NC to form PPD Pharmaco, one of the largest clinical contract research organizations in the world.

After selling Pharmaco, Mr. Hawkins founded id2, a pharmaceutical and biotechnology research management company. Through his position as Chairman and CEO at id2, he has served as an advisor and mentor in the start-up of numerous companies, including Sensus Drug Development Corporation. Sensus, a biotechnology company, developed a Growth Hormone Antagonist for use in acromegaly, the complications of diabetes, and regulation of growth hormone in the treatment of specific types of tumors. Mr. Hawkins co-founded Sensus and served as the Chairman. Sensus was sold to Pharmacia (now Pfizer).

In addition to Sensus, Mr. Hawkins was co-founder and Director of Covance Biotechnology Services, Inc., a full-service contract manufacturer of recombinant proteins located in Research Triangle Park, NC. Covance Biotechnology Services was sold to Akzo Nobel, Inc in early 2001. Mr. Hawkins co-founded and acted as CEO, President, and Chairman of LabNow, a diagnostic device company established to improve the quality of patient care and lower overall treatment costs through deployment of rapid, point-of-care, physician office-based diagnostic testing systems.

Mr. Hawkins currently serves as a Director for Plus Therapeutics (PSTV) and Savara Pharmaceuticals (SVRA).

Mr. Hawkins was inducted into the Hall of Honor for the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas. In 2006 he received Ohio University’s Distinguished Business Achievement Award and was named on the top 10 Life Sciences CEO’s in Texas by the Texas Healthcare & Bioscience Institute. He is a member of the National Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame. In 2015, he received Ohio University’s Konneker Medal, the highest award given to a faculty member or former student for entrepreneurial excellence.  Mr. Hawkins resides in Austin, Texas and maintains a residence near Columbus, Ohio.

Mr. Hawkins has served on the Lumos Pharma Board since 2012 and Chairman since March 2020.