Genzyme up again on sanofi reports

Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ:GENZ) gained $1.79 to $69.79 on Thursday after media reports surfaced that the board of sanofi-aventis Group (Euronext:SAN; NYSE:SNY) authorized the pharma to make a bid to acquire Genzyme. sanofi declined to comment, while Genzyme could not be reached for comment. sanofi did say during its second quarter earnings call on Thursday that it continues to concentrate on small to medium-size acquisitions, with small acquisitions defined as companies with a market cap of up to $5 billion and medium acquisitions defined as those with a market cap of up to $20 billion. Genzyme's market cap is $18.5 billion.

The pharma reported 2Q10 EPS of EUR 1.90, up 5% from EUR 1.76 in 2Q09. Second quarter net sales were EUR 7.8 billion ($9.5 billion), off 1% from EUR 7.4 billion in 2Q09. Percent changes are based on constant exchange rates. sanofi reiterated that it expects full-year EPS to be stable to down 4% compared to 2009. sanofi lowered the guidance last week after FDA approved a generic version of marketed anticoagulant Lovenox enoxaparin. ...