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Olivier J. Wouters, PhD

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Olivier J. Wouters, PhD

Associate Professor, Brown University School of Public Health

Olivier Wouters is a research collaborator with PORTAL and an Associate Professor at Brown University’s School of Public Health in the Department of Health Services, Policy, and Practice. His research focuses on pharmaceutical economics and policy, particularly drug pricing and access to medicines in high- and middle-income countries.

Wouters has published in leading journals, including Health Affairs, JAMA, The Lancet, and The New England Journal of Medicine. In 2025, he received AcademyHealth’s Publication-of-the-Year Award for his research on Medicare drug price negotiations. He is a commissioner on the forthcoming Lancet Commission on Accelerating Progress on Essential Medicines. His current work is supported by Arnold Ventures, the Commonwealth Fund, and the National Institute on Aging.

Wouters holds a PhD in Health Policy and an MSc in Health Economics from the London School of Economics, and a BSc in International Relations from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He was previously an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy at the London School of Economics.

Featured Work

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Differential Legal Protections for Biologics vs Small-Molecule Drugs in the US

Wouters OJ, Vogel M, Feldman WB, Beall RF, Kesselheim AS, Tu SS - JAMA

Research Publications

| December 2024

Innovation Incentives and Competition
Price, Value, and Access
Regulation and Clinical Evidence

The authors explore whether there is empirical justification for the greater legal protections given to biologics over small-molecule drugs in the US. Across development times, clinical trial success rates, research and development costs, patent protection, market exclusivity periods, revenues, and treatment costs, no no evidence supporting differential treatment was found, suggesting that US law overly rewards the development of biologics relative to small-molecule drugs.

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Manufacturer Revenue on Inhalers After Expiration of Primary Patents, 2000-2021

Feldman WB, Tu SS, Alhiary R, Kesselheim AS, Wouters OJ - JAMA

Research Publications

| January 2023

Innovation Incentives and Competition

From 2000 to 2021, inhaler manufacturers earned about $178 billion, with 62% of revenue accruing after primary patents expired but secondary patents remained. Less than 1% of revenue occurred after all patents expired, illustrating how device patents sustain long‑term market power.

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Product Hopping in the Drug Industry—Lessons From Albuterol

Wouters OJ, Feldman WB, Tu SS - New England Journal of Medicine

Commentary & Opinion

| September 2022

Innovation Incentives and Competition

Pharmaceutical companies’ transition of albuterol inhalers from chlorofluorocarbon to hydrofluoroalkane formulations, a “product hop” strategy, has cost payers and patients billions of dollars. Without reforms to patent and regulatory systems, similar product hopping strategies will likely continue in the future.

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