SANDWICH, United Kingdom, April 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Levicept Ltd, a biotechnology company focused on the development of LEVI-04, a first-in-class treatment for osteoarthritis (OA), will today present positive data from its Phase II study of LEVI-04 in patients with pain and disability due to OA of the knee at OARSI 2026 World Congress on Osteoarthritis being held in West Palm Beach, FL 23-26 April.
Levicept has been selected for four presentations including a podium session in which Professor Philip Conaghan MBBS PhD, Director NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, Chief Investigator of the study will show data demonstrating LEVI-04’s clinically meaningful improvements in pain and function across a range of outcomes and effect sizes at or above those for NSAIDs. Professor Ali Guermazi, central radiology reader for the study, will present a poster on the imaging included in the study, and additional posters will describe LEVI-04’s pharmacology as a novel neurotrophin-3 inhibitor and a comparison of joint safety outcomes for LEVI-04 compared to the anti-NGF fasinumab.
The trial was a multi-arm, International, multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase II study which enrolled 518 participants with pain and disability due to OA of the knee (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05618782).
Simon Westbrook, Founder and CSO of Levicept, said: “Being selected to present such a breadth of data from our Phase II trial at OARSI speaks to the importance of novel treatments for osteoarthritis and quality of our trial and outcomes. Our efficacy results have recently been published in The Lanceti and we look forward to sharing more detail with the audience in Florida.
Not only does LEVI-04 significantly reduce pain and symptoms of OA, but we have also demonstrated potential to directly address the OA disease process. We believe LEVI-04 is the only molecule to demonstrate this potential for disease modification and analgesia in a clinical study of patients with OA.”
Presentation details:
Podium presentation – 24 Apr-2026, 6PM – 6:10PM
Title: LEVI-04, a novel neurotrophin-3 inhibitor, demonstrates clinically meaningful improvements in pain and physical function across a range of OA outcomes, including the OMERACT-OARSI responder criteria
Presenter: Prof Philip Conaghan MD, Chief Investigator, University of Leeds
Posters:
Poster #407 – April 24 3:30PM – 4:15PM and April 25 3:30 – 4.15PM
Title: Pharmacology of the neurotrophin-3 inhibitor LEVI-04, a novel treatment for osteoarthritis
Presenter: Simon Westbrook PhD, Founder and CSO, Levicept
Poster #439 – April 24 3:30PM – 4:15PM and April 25 3:30 – 4.15PM
Title: A comparison of joint safety outcomes from Phase 2 RCTs of two different neurotrophin modulators: LEVI-04 (p75NTR-Fc, NT-3 inhibitor) and fasinumab (anti-NGF)
Presenter: Prof Philip Conaghan MD, Chief Investigator, University of Leeds
Poster #376 – April 24 4:15PM – 5:00PM and April 25 4:15 – 5:00PM
Title: Imaging exclusions at screening in the Phase II RCT of Levi-04, a novel neurotrophin-3 inhibitor, in patients with knee osteoarthritis
Presenter: Prof Ali Guermazi MD, Study Central Reader (Radiology), University of Boston
Levicept
Eliot Forster, CEO - eliot@levicept.com
Media Enquiries
Charles Consultants
Sue Charles - Sue@charles-consultants.com +44 (0)7968 726585
Chris Gardner - Chris@CGComms.onmicrosoft.com +44 (0)7956 031077
About Levicept – www.levicept.com
Levicept Ltd is a UK-based biotechnology company developing the first in a new class of novel, safe and efficacious biological therapies, LEVI-04 [p75NTR-Fc], for the treatment of osteoarthritis and chronic pain. LEVI-04 inhibits NT-3, one of the neurotrophin family of proteins. LEVI-04 has completed a Phase II clinical trial in more than 500 patients with osteoarthritis. It is estimated that the market opportunity for drugs that treat osteoarthritis is worth in excess of $10 billion. LEVI-04 was discovered by Levicept’s founder, Simon Westbrook. Levicept’s investors include Medicxi, Advent Life Sciences, Gilde Healthcare and Pfizer Ventures.
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i Conaghan P, et al. LANCET Volume 407, Issue 10535, 28 March–3 April 2026, Pages 1237-1248
