** Shares of French inflammatory-disease specialist Abivax ABVX.PA rise 6%, paring earlier gains of about 8%; analysts link the rise in a generally volatile stock to another media report stoking M&A chatter

** Analysts at Kepler Chevreux and ODDO BHF link the rise to a La Lettre report that British pharma group AstraZeneca AZN.L offered around 176 euros ($205.85) per Abivax share at the end of 2025

** Abivax has been recently surrounded by increased M&A chatter

** La Lettre earlier reported that rival Eli Lilly LLY.N was preparing a 15 billion euro ($17.5 billion) bid, but France's Finance Ministry said it had not received any formal request for investment approval

** AstraZeneca and Abivax were not immediately available for a comment

($1 = 0.8550 euros)

(Reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk)

((nathan.vifflin@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 67 13;))