The names of the first four drugs to receive PRIME (PRIority MEDicines) status were released in June by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The EMA's scheme is aimed at providing drug developers with an enhanced early dialog to foster the development of innovative medicines with the potential to address unmet clinical needs. The European PRIME has analogies with the US FDA's Breakthrough Therapy Designation. Drug developers accessing PRIME will benefit from “early, proactive and enhanced support,” the EMA says. Those mostly likely to benefit from the new program are micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises as well as academia. Within a month after its March 7 launch, the EMA received and assessed 18 PRIME applications, of which 4 were granted to products being developed by biotech companies. One is an autologous cell therapy, KTE-C19, from Santa Monica, California–based Kite Pharma, engineered with chimeric antigen receptors for treating diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Another is a monoclonal antibody, NI-0501, made by Geneva-based Novimmune, that inhibits interferon-γ to treat inflammatory disorders. Mountain View, California–based ChemoCentryx received PRIME designation for CCX168, a small molecule that targets the C5a receptor of complement, involved in autoimmune diseases and other disorders including hemolytic uremic syndrome. The fourth drug is Biogen's aducanumab, a β-amyloid removal monoclonal antibody therapy to treat Alzheimer's disease. Going forward, the agency promises to release information on PRIME on a monthly basis.