The Paediatric Committee (PDCO) is the scientific committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) responsible for the scientific assessment and adoption of paediatric investigation plans (PIPs) in its main role.

A PIP specifies the paediatric studies that pharmaceutical companies must conduct if they want to develop a new medicinal product and bring it to market in a national or central marketing authorisation procedure - even if this is (initially) only intended for use in adults. The main task of the PDCO also includes the assessment of applications by pharmaceutical companies for deferrals of the initiation or completion of some or all of the PIP measures, as well as the assessment of applications for waivers of the obligation to submit a PIP, which may relate to parts (partial waiver) or the entire paediatric population (full waiver). However, the Paediatric Committee is not responsible for assessing applications for marketing authorisation for medicinal products for children. This falls within the remit of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) and the national authorities.

The Paediatric Committee was established in 2007 under the Paediatric Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1901/2006) to improve the health of children in the European Union by promoting the development and availability of medicines for children aged 0-17 years.

The Paediatric Committee consists of scientific experts from all Member States of the EEA, including patient representatives and healthcare professionals. For further information, agendas, minutes and meeting reports on the PDCO and an overview about all adopted PIPs, please refer to the EMA website Paediatric Committee (PDCO).

Dr. Sabine Scherer (BfArM) has been elected as the new chair of the Paediatric Committee (PDCO) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in July 2025. Starting in September 2025, she will chair the PDCO for a three-year mandate. She has been an active member of the PDCO since 2016, including serving as Vice-Chair from 2019 to 2022 and contributing to several working groups.

Her representative as German PDCO delegate is Dr. Yuansheng Sun from Paul-Ehrlich-Institute (PEI).