Various outlets, including business information group Datamonitor, have speculated that Sanofi-Aventis may be looking to acquire a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company for a reported $20 billion.

While still unidentified, it is thought that the acquisition could include one of the following three pharma companies: Weston, Mass.-based Biogen Idec, Irvine, Calif.-based Allergan or Cambridge, Mass.-based Genzyme, according to Giles Somers, a senior healthcare analyst at Datamonitor.

According to Somers, over the past two years Bridgewater, N.J.-based Sanofi has acquired numerous generic brand companies, as well as acquisitions in the consumer healthcare and vaccine market segments.

Somers said that purchasing Biogen Idec would help Sanofi discover further treatments for multiple sclerosis, but a deal with Genzyme could expand Sanofi’s biologics market.

Additionally, Somers said that acquiring Allergan would fit into Sanofi’s current activity in the ophthalmology sector after it previously landed a deal with Oxford Biomedica to create gene therapy for the treatment of ocular diseases.

“If suggestions of an imminent $20 billion acquisition are true, however, this would signal a notable statement of intent by the company as it looks to re-shape the focus of its core prescription pharmaceuticals business, building on the major overhaul of the company's internal research and development pipeline last year,” said Somers.