U.S. pharmaceuticals company Abbott Laboratories (ABT) said Wednesday it isn't interested in Belgium's Solvay SA's (SOLB.BT) Tricor business, one of its best-selling drugs in which the two companies have a partnership, denying earlier press reports.

"We have no interest in expanding our participation in the fenofibrate market, which was implied in the article," Chief Financial Officer Thomas Freyman told analysts on a conference call, referring to a Financial Times article reporting an Abbott interest in Solvay's Tricor. "We already have a strong presence there and an adequate investment," he said.

The newspaper reported Wednesday that Solvay has narrowed the list of bidders for its pharma unit to private-equity owned Swiss company Nycomed and Abbott, which would be only bidding for Tricor. Solvay and Abbott sell fenofibrate, which aims to cut cholesterol levels, under the brand name Tricor.

Solvay said in April it is reviewing different options for its pharma unit, as a general trend to higher drug development costs, lower government healthcare spending and recent money-rich acquisitions prompted the company to consider different business strategies.

It has hired Morgan Stanley (MS), Citigroup (C) and Rothschild to advise on a possible sale, people familiar with the situation said. Solvay has said it isn't in a rush to make a decision, and the pharma business is helping the company to offset sharp demand declines in its core plastics and chemical activities, heavily hit by the current economic downturn.

With patents expiring on their blockbuster drugs, many big pharmaceutical companies are keen to snap up smaller competitors, to secure new products, analysts said.

Solvay Pharmaceuticals posted EUR2.7 billion in sales last year. The unit is valued around EUR5 billion, according to analyst estimates.

-By Marietta Cauchi and Alessandro Torello, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842 9241; marietta.cauchi@dowjones.com

(Peter Loftus from Philadelphia contributed to this story.)