India’s drug price control agency has been under fire from both pharmaceutical firms and patient rights’ groups for years for different reasons. Now the watchdog may be disbanded and the number of price-controlled medicines reduced as part of a policy overhaul to make the country more investor-friendly.

For the last few years, Indian generic companies have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons, rapped by the US Food and Drug Administration over problems ranging from fudged test results to poor-quality manufacturing standards. But lately, the firms have been enjoying a run of good regulatory tidings, giving a fillip to their share prices.

Asia’s biggest biotech company, India’s Biocon Ltd, has announced it will conduct what it says is the first-ever clinical trial of a siRNA therapy in India with US partner Quark, is aimed at tackling a rare eye condition.