Attleboro man begins test of drug that could slow or block Alzheimer’s

PROVIDENCE — Saddened to watch his bigger-than-life father become hollowed out by Alzheimer’s, Dave Kalberer, 63, said he learned from a friend that some of the best Alzheimer’s research is being done right in Rhode Island.

Kalberer had watched Alzheimer’s take his mother in three years. His father, about to turn 90, has been in decline for 12 years. Kalberer spoke Tuesday during a Zoom conference about his role in a global study called AHEAD, for which Butler Hospital is recruiting.

Knowing that Alzheimer’s is hereditary, Kalberer participated in a “swab party” to help select research participants. Samples of DNA were taken from their cheeks. Kalberer’s DNA swabs showed he was highly likely to get the disease because each of his parents had given him a copy of apoE4, a gene associated with Alzheimer’s. He had no hint of memory loss.

But on Thursday, he entered medical history by relaxing in a chair at Butler for the first infusion of either a placebo or BAN2401, an antibody that binds to and eventually eliminates plaque in the brain. For the first time ever, the infusion was given to someone showing no outward sign of Alzheimer’s impairment.

The same drug is being tested on a second group of patients who have been diagnosed.

Dr. Stephen Salloway, director of the Memory and Aging Program at Butler, said that in his 30 years of “trying to make a difference with brain diseases,” the problem just gets bigger as the population ages. ”We really need better diagnoses,” he said.

Alzheimer’s, once diagnosed only after a patient had died, can now be diagnosed by the presence of genetic markers and by tools such as positron emission tomography, which shows how the body is functioning.

During a PET scan, which tracks a radioactive dye, any buildup of amyloid plaques in the brain will light up. The clumps take 10 to 20 years before they cause memory loss, he said.

Kalberer said he was surprised to see plaque in his brain light up.

The infusion that Kalberer received last Thursday may have been the drug that binds to plaque and begins dissolving it. It’s a blind study, so no one knows who’s getting the drug and who’s getting a placebo.

The study will measure the drug’s effectiveness in removing plaque.

Every three months, Kalberer will have a memory cognition test, and his wife, Rosalind, will report any changes she’s noticed.

Three PET scans during the four-year study will precisely measure his plaque.

Alzheimer’s, the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, is the only one of the top 10 that cannot be prevented, cured or slowed.

In the United States, 5.6 million Americans 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s, the Butler team reported, and by 2050 there will be three times more.

Salloway remembers people with dementia who so wanted to advance the research that “when they died, they donated their body. I am so moved,” he said. “Many of them, that was their final contribution.”

Kalberer sees himself as a salesman for something that could help millions: participating in Alzheimer’s research.

“I’ve tried to tell everybody I know that I’m doing this because I want people to be part of the study,” he said.

“The more people we can get involved,” the less chance Alzheimer’s has to devastate lives.

Newer participants will not get a DNA analysis, the outreach team said.

Salloway said that by getting people talking, the Kalberers are helping to eliminate the stigma of Alzheimer’s.

“I’m proud to be at the front of the line for this exciting opportunity,” Kalberer said, “and I am hopeful this trial can change not just my life but millions more.”