Hyderabad | 20 February 2026: German engineering major Glatt and Hyderabad-based biotechnology firm PreferCo have launched the PreferCo–Glatt Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Bioprocess Scale-Up in Genome Valley. The facility is designed to bridge a critical gap in India’s biotechnology ecosystem- the transition from laboratory validation to pilot and pre-commercial production.

Located within Hyderabad’s established life sciences cluster, the center provides structured scale-up infrastructure for microbial precision fermentation and advanced bioprocessing.

The Centre of Excellence

The CoE is built to support fermentation-based innovation across pharmaceuticals and emerging bio-industrial segments. Core capabilities include:

• Bioreactor infrastructure up to 1,500 litres
• Automated process control systems
• Advanced analytical instrumentation
• AI-enabled process optimization frameworks
• Digital monitoring and data integration architecture

“The Centre of Excellence provides a structured fermentation scale-up platform supported by advanced engineering and integrated digital systems. Such infrastructure is essential for building a globally competitive biomanufacturing ecosystem capable of consistently delivering high-value products.”

– Rajiv Bhide, Managing Director of Glatt Systems

The focus is not only on clinical biotechnology but also on industrial-scale applications including-

Bio-based chemicals, Sustainable materials, Functional ingredients, Personal care and specialty formulations.

Strategic Context: Bioeconomy Inflection Point

India’s bioeconomy has expanded significantly over the past decade and is projected to continue strong growth through 2030. Sustaining that trajectory requires infrastructure that supports:

• Reliable fermentation scaling
• Process validation
• Quality benchmarking
• Regulatory alignment

The CoE provides an intermediate layer between research labs and large-scale manufacturing, which has historically been a constraint for early-stage biotech ventures.

Institutional Alignment and Forward Outlook

The PreferCo- Glatt Centre of Excellence aligns directly with India’s BioE3 policy framework, which prioritizes biotechnology for economic expansion, environmental sustainability, and employment generation.

The partnership combines global process engineering expertise with local ecosystem integration, strengthening Genome Valley’s position as a commercialization-ready biotechnology cluster rather than only a research hub.

This CoE provides that missing intermediate layer between laboratory validation and industrial manufacturing.

Three forward signals emerge:

• Scale-up as strategic infrastructure: Commercial translation speed will increasingly define competitiveness in biotechnology. Structured pilot capacity reduces time-to-market and improves capital efficiency for innovators.
• Expansion beyond pharma: Precision fermentation applications across sustainable materials, food technology, and bio-based chemicals broaden utilization potential and de-risk sector concentration.
• Genome Valley’s ecosystem strengthening: Adding advanced bioprocess scale-up capacity deepens the cluster’s industrial maturity and enhances its global positioning.

Curated by SSF Global to track developments shaping the future of GCCs, enterprise ecosystems, and India’s commercial real estate landscape.

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SSF Global is a Global Community for Enterprise Function Leaders and serves as a research & advisory platform focused on Global Business Services (GBS), Global Capability Centres (GCCs), and the evolution of enterprise innovation in India and beyond. We track, publish, and partner in narratives that shape how capability centres transform into hubs of trust, intelligence, and sustainable growth. We also evaluate, assess and benchmark the GCCs for their performance, maturity and other parameters using our proprietary tools built from the knowledge gained from direct interaction with our members (GCCs & GBS).