Former Director-Life Sciences of Telangana Shakthi Nagappan named CMD of biomanufacturing firm PreferCo
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Shakthi M. Nagappan | Photo Credit: Arrangement
Former Telangana Life Sciences Foundation CEO and Director Life Sciences of the State Shakthi M. Nagappan has been named Chairman and Managing Director of PreferCo, a Hyderabad-headquartered precision fermentation company that he co-founded.
As CMD, he will be leading the company as it builds an integrated platform spanning strain engineering, process development and bioprocess scale-up in partnership with German process technology major Glatt.
The platform it is building, in Hyderabad’s Genome Valley, is focused on addressing one of the industry’s most critical challenges — translating promising biology from the laboratory into robust and commercially viable manufacturing at scale.
“I believe we have the opportunity to build a position for India in industrial biotechnology and biomanufacturing similar to what the country achieved in vaccines,” Mr.Nagappan, who continues to be associated with the State government in an advisory capacity on Life Sciences, said in a release. His former Telangana government colleague Akhil Gawar, who led initiatives in the food processing sector for the State till last year, co-founder and CEO of PreferCo.
Days after he stepped down, in December the State government said Mr.Nagappan will continue in his role till March 2026 and thereafter support the IT and Industries Minister as an Advisor in an honorary capacity, in view of his pivotal role in shaping Telangana’s Life Sciences ecosystem and strengthening its national and global engagements.
PreferCo said the opportunity for biomanufacturing is expanding, with BCG estimating a $200 billion market for biomanufactured ingredients by 2040 and an approximately 20-fold expansion in biomanufacturing capacity required to capture this potential. India has also identified biomanufacturing as a strategic national priority through its BioE3 Policy, with an ambition to position the country as a leading global biomanufacturing hub.
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