The European Medicines Association (EMA) has recommended that three new cancer drugs receive marketing authorisation via the UK's early access to medicines scheme.

The EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has put forward Vynfinit (vintafolide) to treat platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, as well as two companion diagnostic drugs – Folcepri (etarfolatide) and Neocepri (folic acid) – it announced on Friday (March 21).

Researchers had found Vynfinit, which works by binding to the folate receptors on the surface of cancer cells to deliver the medicine to the target, improved survival in patients during a phase-2 clinical trial.

Although phase 3 was still ongoing and comprehensive data was not yet available, the early access to medicines scheme, launched in the UK last week (March 14), allowed the EMA to recommend the drug because it addressed an "unmet medical need," it said.

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	The triple recommendation followed current trends in developing medicines where specific patients were targeted, based on a better understanding of underlying molecular mechanisms, the EMA said. As a result, treatment could be avoided in patients who were unlikely to respond to it, sparing them potential side effects, it added.

The EMA also recommended marketing authorisation for the Crohn's disease treatment Entivyo (vedolizumab), which was aimed specifically at adults unresponsive to conventional therapy.

The recommendations will be referred to the Co-ordination Group for Mutual Recognition and Decentralised Procedures – Human (CMDh), which will decide whether they should be enforced across Europe, including the UK.