Syngene International has announced the appointment of Maninder Kapoor Puri as Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and Abhijit Zutshi as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), effective May 1, 2026. These strategic hires bolster the company’s executive committee amid its push for global growth in research, development, and manufacturing services.
Maninder Kapoor Puri brings nearly three decades of global HR leadership, driving business performance through people strategies, leadership development, culture, and digital HR ecosystems. Her expertise spans biopharmaceuticals, IT services, and consulting across North America, EMEA, and APAC. She has partnered with CEOs and boards on large-scale, multi-market transformations to build high-performance organizations.
Most recently, as CHRO at Biocon, Puri led enterprise-wide culture and leadership transformations. Previously, she served as Global CHRO at Mastek, overseeing HR across 40+ countries, with leadership roles at Accenture and Firstsource Solutions. Recognized by Outlook Business as a face of “Viksit Bharat,” she ranks among HR Today’s Top 100 Global CHROs, India’s Most Agile Leaders (2026), and CHRO of the Year.
As Syngene’s CHRO and Executive Committee member, Puri will spearhead the global people agenda to fuel the company’s next growth phase.
Abhijit (Abhi) Zutshi joins as Chief Commercial Officer, based in the United States. As an Executive Committee member, he will drive Syngene’s commercial operations, including sales, client partnerships, marketing, brand building, digital initiatives, and account management.
Zutshi offers 27 years of pharmaceutical commercial experience across global markets. He spent 25 years at Biocon, most recently as CCO of the generics business, leading drug substance and product divisions while building a global team for generic formulations. His skills cover sales, marketing, business development, portfolio management, and market entry for small and large molecules. Earlier, he led the India launch of Pfizer’s Zosyn brand as a product specialist. Zutshi holds a pharmacy degree, an MBA, and is a Harvard Business School Leadership Development Program graduate.
Peter Bains, Managing Director and CEO of Syngene International, commented: “We are pleased to welcome Maninder and Abhijit to Syngene’s leadership team. Their depth of experience and strong track record in their respective domains will be instrumental as we continue to evolve our service offerings and enhance our value proposition for clients worldwide. These appointments reinforce our commitment to building a world-class leadership team capable of driving our next phase of sustainable growth.”
