EMA Paediatric Committee elects Brian Aylward as its new Chair
NewsHuman
At its July 2022 meeting, EMA’s Paediatric Committee (PDCO) elected Brian Aylward from Ireland as its new chair for a three-year mandate.
Dr Aylward takes over from Professor Koenraad Norga from the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP) in Belgium who has served as the PDCO chair for the last three years.
’’I am delighted and honoured to have been appointed as the chair of the Paediatric Committee of the European Medicines Agency,’’ said Dr Aylward. ’’The PDCO has a pivotal role in advising decision-making bodies, both within and outside EMA, and other stakeholders about advances in paediatric medicine. I look forward to working with all these stakeholders to help ensure that effective, safe, and age-appropriate medicines are available for use in children and adolescents.”
Dr Aylward has been actively involved in various PDCO activities since 2010 when he was appointed as alternate for Ireland before becoming a committee member in 2013. He has been chair of the Formulations Working Group of the PDCO since 2014.
Before joining the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) in Ireland in 2008, he practiced as an anaesthesiologist and intensive care medicine physician. Prior to his appointment to the PDCO, he was a member of the Clinical Trials Facilitation Group at the Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA).
The main role of the PDCO is to prospectively guide sponsors or companies on how to consider a medicine’s use in children during its development. In this context, the committee assesses the content of paediatric investigation plans as well as applications for a full or partial waiver and for deferrals.
The PDCO will elect a new vice-chair at its meeting in September 2022.