Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Genentech Inc. rose 2.3 percent in New York trading on a Financial Times report that Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG is preparing to raise its bid for the biotechnology company to $95 a share.

The South San Francisco, California-based Genentech rose $1.94, to $86.34, at 4:03 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The $95-a-share offer is likely to be presented to Genentech’s board in February, according to the FT.com report, which didn’t cite a source.

Roche, based in Basel, Switzerland, offered $43.7 billion, or $89 a share, on July 21 for the 44 percent of Genentech it doesn’t own already. Genentech rejected that bid as too low, although the company said it is open to talks.

“There’s no way to know how credible this report is,” said BMO Capital Markets analyst Jason Zhang, in a telephone interview. “Roche is serious about this, they want to finish the deal, but $95 isn’t high enough to get the deal done. You have to get above $100 a share.”

A Genentech spokesman, Geoff Teeter, declined to comment on the report. Chief Executive Officer Arthur D. Levinson didn’t reply to e-mailed requests for comment.

“We do not comment on market rumors,” said Martina Rupp, a Roche spokeswoman.

The acquisition would enable Roche to boost its share of profit from the cancer drugs Avastin and Herceptin, which generated a combined $10 billion in global sales last year, according to Zhang.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Zimm in Boston azimm@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 9, 2009 16:14 EST