I didn't see any mention of ACE2 in that paper or supplementary data that did a single dose of apabetalone. The company claims to have data from apabetalone treated patients on ACE2 modulation, but has not shared this data yet to my knowledge.

Many have asked very specific questions about:

How much does apabetalone modulate ACE2 in patients? Unknown. No data shared by company. Only data I've seen is whole human blood treated for 24 hours with apabetalone that elicited a 30% decrease in ACE2 mRNA level.

How long does it take? How many doses are needed? How long does the effect last? Unknown. See answer above.

In what tissues is ACE2 modulated by apabetalone? Unknown. See answer above.

If lung is the target tissue, can we assume that small molecule apabetalone can get to the lung or can aerosol be used? An aerosol delivery method would need to start in Phase 1 trial (or possibly in animal model) due to too many unknowns. As for apabetalone tissue distribution from the traditional oral delivery.....I haven't seen any data on the lung from animal studies. Perhaps it is in some of the apabetalone pulmonary artierial hypertension literature, but I haven't seen or recall anything. Even if it can get to the lung, does it get there in appreciable levels to elicit any effect on ACE2? Another unknown. All drugs have their own unique pharacokinetic and tissue distribution pattern, so we can't assume anything.

Does modulating ACE2 levels even have a benefit (or possibly detrimental effect) on the COVID19 disease progression? It is possible that apabetalone could have benefit, no effect or detrimental effect on COVID19 disease progression. With scant data right now, any effect is just hypothetical and needs rigorous testing. 

BDAZ