French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis would be prepared to moderately raise its $69 per share offer for Genzyme if the U.S. biotech agreed to negotiate, Dow Jones reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The person played down recent reports that Sanofi's board was split over whether to pursue the deal after Genzyme rejected its initial offer, the news agency said.

The board has agreed that in principle the offer could be raised, but would like a signal from Genzyme that it was prepared to negotiate, the source said.
A Sanofi-Aventis spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.