Roche sticks by $43.7 billion Genentech bid: report

A logo is pictured on Swiss drug makers Roche plant in Kaiseraugst near Basel, July 21, 2008.

ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX) is sticking by its $43.7 billion offer to buy out the rest of Genentech Inc DNA.N it does not already own, its pharmaceuticals chief said in an interview published on Sunday.

The Swiss drugmaker, which already holds 56 percent of Genentech, has had its July offer to buy out the remainder of its U.S. biotech partner rebuffed.

But Genentech's share price has recently fallen below the $89 offer price as concerns mount about Roche's funding of the bid, given ever tighter credit conditions.

"We are sticking to our plan to buy out the remaining 44 percent of Genentech," William Burns, head of Roche's drugs unit, told Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung. "It remains our aim to reach an agreement with Genentech."

(Reporting by Sam Cage; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)