Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law

PORTAL is one of the nation’s leading independent academic research groups addressing the development, regulation, evidence-based use, and cost of medical products.

PORTAL is an interdisciplinary team focused on generating evidence to make people healthier and live longer by improving how prescription drugs and other therapeutics are developed, regulated, used, and reimbursed. We deliver rigorous, timely research and engage with stakeholders to advance evidence-based policy solutions.

PORTAL is a research group in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics within the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Innovation Incentives and Competition

Regulation and Clinical Evidence

Price, Value, and Access

List Price Reductions Among Brand-Name ICS-LABA Inhalers In 2024 Were Associated With Increased Generic Uptake

Han J, Wang SV, Kesselheim AS, Avorn J, Feldman WB | Health Affairs

Following the American Rescue Plan Act’s removal of the Medicaid rebate cap in January 2024, brand-name ICS-LABA manufacturers reduced list prices by 21-50%, and generic ICS-LABA use immediately increased by 23%, driven by gains in commercial plans and Medicare. The authors conclude that these list price reductions likely limited brand-name manufacturers’ ability to offer large rebates to pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs), disrupting financial incentives that had previously affected formulary design that suppressed generic uptake.

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