The French oil company Total says there have no discussions about selling its 10 percent stake in Sanofi-Aventis - no talks with Pfizer or the French drugmaker. The remarks by ceo Christophe de Margerie came in response to rising speculation that Pfizer is interested in buying a stake in Sanofi-Aventis as a prelude to an all-out bid. The rumors, which pushed up Sanofi shares 3 percent this week, also have cosmetics giant L’Oreal selling its 13 percent stake in the drugmaker.

“We have had no contact with Pfizer or Sanofi,” the Total ceo told reporters on the sidelines of an oil conference today, Reuters reports.

Pfizer is scrambling to remake itself amid patent expirations on big sellers and laboratory failures. Toward that end, the drugmaker last week announced a plan to create a research organization devoted to biotech, on top of efforts to pursue deals with smaller companies. By acquiring a stake in Sanofi, Pfizer might benefit from any new Sanofi discoveries. A complete takeover, however, would saddle with Pfizer administrative challenges.

Previously, both Total and L’Oreal have made clear they don’t consider their Sanofi stakes strategic. In fact, Total said in August it would sell its 13 percent stake in Sanofi-Aventis progressively. Although, L’Oreal said last June the sale of its stake of around 10 percent wasn’t imminent and its view hadn’t changed after Sanofi won a US patent trial earlier this year over its blockbuster bloodthinner, Plavix.