ALSO NOTED: Minnesota hands out research cash; BMS, Lundbeck execs jump ship; and much more...

> The Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics is handing out $6 million to seven teams that will research heart disease, mesothelioma, infection prevention and epilepsy. Report [1]

> Avanir Pharmaceuticals has sold its portfolio of human monoclonal anthrax antibodies to Emergent BioSolutions for up to $1.75 million in upfront and milestone payments, as well as royalties on annual net sales if the product is commercialized. Release [2]

> Chutes & Ladders: Danish drug maker Lundbeck lost its CEO Claus Braestrup yesterday when he announced he would resign immediately. Meanwhile, Bristol-Myers Squibb's executive VP and CFO Andrew Bonfield will leave the company "to seek new career opportunities." Report [3]

> It looks like heparin and acts something like heparin, but it isn't heparin. It's a mysterious contaminant the FDA has found in batches of Baxter's heparin linked to nearly 800 serious drug reactions and as many as 19 deaths. Only detected by sophisticated testing not typically done by drug makers or their suppliers, the lookalike substance made up between 5 percent and 20 percent of the product's active ingredients in those samples. Report [4]

> GlaxoSmithKline is off the hook in a U.K. investigation of its withholding data on the antidepressant Seroxat, sold as Paxil in the U.S. Report [5]

> New trial data on GlaxoSmithKline's experimental bird flu vaccine indicates that the drug works against a variety of subsets of the virus. Report [6]

> With a new smallpox vaccine accumulating in federal stockpiles, the U.S. government is disposing of millions of doses of Dryvax, the old smallpox vaccine that relies on skin scrapings from infected calves. Report [7]

> Two former Wyeth workers continue to cause controversy for Wyeth's blockbuster vaccine Prevnar. Report [8]

And Finally... In Seattle, a new malaria trial will pay volunteers to get infected. Report [9]