A lot of mentions of Apabetalone in this May 10th article:  

https://www.alzforum.org/news/conference-coverage/antibodies-against-microglial-receptors-trem2-and-cd33-head-trials

An Epigenetic Way to Douse Inflammation
Some therapeutic approaches come from other areas of research, but unexpectedly turn out to have neuroinflammatory effects. Take apabetalone (RVX-208), an investigational small-molecule drug that binds and inhibits bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) proteins. BET proteins normally recognize acetylated lysines in histones, and then recruit other transcription factors in order to regulate gene expression. Because apabetalone competes for acetylated histone binding within the BET binding region, it prevents BET proteins from fastening to chromatin. Apabetalone was developed by the biotech company Resverlogix, based in Calgary, Canada, and company researchers have reported various treatment benefits for it. According to published papers, it pumps up expression of ApoA-1, the main component of HDL or “good” cholesterol, prevents calcification of blood vessels, and suppresses gene expression pathways associated with kidney disease (McLure et al., 2013; Wasiak et al., 2018; Gilham et al., 2019). 

Resverlogix has tested apabetalone for numerous chronic diseases. The furthest advanced is the Phase 3 BETonMACE trial, which enrolls 2,425 high-risk cardiovascular patients with diabetes and low HDL. Apabetalone is also entering a Phase 2a trial of dialysis patients with end-stage kidney disease, and starting a pilot study for pulmonary arterial hypertension.

In these studies, as well as in preclinical mouse work, the researchers noticed that apabetalone calmed peripheral inflammation. Ewelina Kulikowski and colleagues at Resverlogix found that apabetalone turns down expression of complement proteins, part of the innate immune system (Wasiak et al., 2017). This observation led them to test the molecule in cellular and mouse models of neuroinflammation.

In Lisbon, Kulikowski reported that apabetalone inhibits expression of adhesion proteins by endothelial cells, preventing monocytes from sticking to them. This is a crucial step for monocytes to infiltrate into brain (Jul 2018 conference news). In a microglial cell line stimulated with lipopolysaccharide and IFNγ, apabetalone suppressed expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-1β, along with complement proteins C3 and C1q. In a wild-type mouse injected intraperitoneally with the inflammatory agent LPS, seven days of treatment with 150 mg/kg apabetalone halved expression of the endothelial inflammation markers E-selectin and ICAM, as well as macrophage and microglial markers CCR2 and CD68. The researchers did not present behavioral data, or experiments in AD mouse models.

Resverlogix researchers wondered if apabetalone treatment could bolster cognition in aging. To test this idea, they decided to include a cognitive substudy in the BETonMACE trial. Jeffrey Cummings of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, an academic consultant to the study, described the experimental paradigm in Lisbon. BETonMACE participants receive 100 mg apabetalone daily for about two years. The primary endpoint is the time until a cardiovascular event such as stroke, heart attack, or death, and the trial continues until 250 such events have occurred. The drug will be deemed a success if it significantly delays adverse cardiac events.

In the cognitive substudy, 467 participants age 70 or older take the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) at baseline, every year thereafter, and at study termination. The researchers will compare change from baseline in people on apabetalone and placebo to look for a slowing of cognitive decline. A MoCA of 26 or higher is considered normal cognition, and the average MoCA score at baseline for the whole cohort was 25, Cummings said in Lisbon. Researchers will also analyze subgroups of people who started the trial with mild cognitive impairment; among the 246 people who scored below 26 at baseline, the average MoCA was 22. Topline data from the study are expected this summer.—Madolyn Bowman Rogers