Former Telangana life sciences chief named CMD of PreferCo

Shakthi M. Nagappan, former CEO of the Telangana Life Sciences Foundation and the State’s director of life sciences, has been named chairman and managing director of Hyderabad-based precision fermentation company PreferCo. Nagappan co-founded PreferCo and will lead its work on an integrated platform covering strain engineering, process development and bioprocess scale-up.

The company is developing the platform in Hyderabad’s Genome Valley in partnership with German process-technology major Glatt. PreferCo said the platform is intended to address the challenge of translating laboratory biology into robust and commercially viable manufacturing at scale. Nagappan said he believed India could build a position in industrial biotechnology and biomanufacturing similar to its position in vaccines.

His former Telangana government colleague Akhil Gawar is the company’s co-founder and chief executive officer. Gawar led initiatives in the State’s food-processing sector until last year. Nagappan remains associated with the Telangana government in an advisory capacity on life sciences.

The State government said in December that he would continue in his role until March 2026 and then support the IT and Industries Minister as an honorary adviser. PreferCo cited a Boston Consulting Group estimate that the market for biomanufactured ingredients could reach $200 billion by 2040, with biomanufacturing capacity needing to expand approximately 20-fold to capture that potential. The company also pointed to India’s BioE3 Policy, which identifies biomanufacturing as a strategic national priority and seeks to position the country as a global biomanufacturing hub.

The supplied material does not provide details of PreferCo’s current revenue, workforce, financing or commercial products. It describes the company’s planned platform and Nagappan’s appointment as part of its effort to develop biomanufacturing capability in Hyderabad.