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Sanofi Denies Pursuing ImClone

Althea Chang

Sanofi-Aventis(SNY) said it doesn't have any plans to try to acquire biotech outfit ImClone(IMCL).

The company made the comments to Reuters after a published report said it had been interested in pursuing the acquisition.

Sanofi-Aventis said it hasn't made a bid and doesn't intend to. ImClone said recently that it received a $36-a-share takeover proposal from a major pharmaceutical firm, but that director Carl Icahn wouldn't support the deal, leading the potential acquirer to walk away. ImClone didn't name the company.

ImClone, which makes the cancer drug Erbitux, has also been the subject of acquisition rumors involving marketing partner Bristol-Myers Squibb(BMY). Bristol has previously said it has no plans to seek a deal.

Sanofi-Aventis was up 8 cents at $43.43.