The Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) is the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) committee responsible for recommending orphan designation of medicines for rare diseases. The Committee meets once a month. EMA publishes the agendas, minutes and meeting reports of its plenary meetings
Maltese is available via eTranslation, the European Commission's machine translation service.
COMP is responsible for evaluating applications for orphan designation. This designation is for medicines to be developed for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of rare diseases that are life-threatening or very serious. In the European Union (EU), a disease is defined as rare if it affects fewer than 5 in 10,000 people across the EU. The European Commission decides whether to grant an orphan designation for the medicine based on COMP's opinion.
An orphan designation allows a sponsor to benefit from incentives from the EU, such as reduced fees and protection from competition once the medicine is placed on the market.
Expert support
COMP also advises and assists the European Commission on matters related to orphan medicines, including:
developing and establishing an EU-wide policy;
drawing up detailed guidelines;
liaising internationally.
COMP was established in 2000, in line with Regulation (EC) No 141/2000. For full details, see the COMP rules of procedure and work plan.
Abbreviations used in EMA scientific committees and Coordination Group for Mutual Recognition and Decentralised Procedures (CMD) documents, and in relation to EMA’s regulatory activities