Searle denied it reached a pact to sell the firm.

In response to a report by the Chicago Tribune newspaper that the Skokie, Ill.-based company had reached an agreement to sell its pharmaceutical and consumer-products business for a total of $3.2 billion, G. D. Searle & Co. said in a statement that it is “continuing to have discussions with parties interested in purchasing various parts of its business but there have not been any agreements made with respect to such sale or sales and Searle is unable to predict whether, in fact, such discussions will result in a sale of any part or all of its business.” Searle closed Friday on the New York Stock Exchange at $59, down 25 cents on a volume of 764,300 shares.