NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The drug giant Schering-Plough is seriously considering approaching Bristol-Myers with a merger offer, according to a news report.

Schering-Plough (down $0.11 to $21.11, Charts), the ninth-largest drug company in the U.S., has been discussing a possible merger with Bristol (down $0.13 to $24.68, Charts) internally for months, but has yet to approach the industry's fifth-largest company, the Newark Star-Ledger reported Friday. The New Jersey paper attributed the report to "three people with direct knowledge of Schering-Plough's deliberations."

Wall Street experts have been openly discussing the possibility of Bristol as a take-over target since the New York-based drug company forced out its CEO on Tuesday. Former CEO Peter Dolan was replaced by interim CEO James Cornelius.

Cornelius headed medical device maker Guidant (up $0.57 to $80.10, Charts) when it was bought by Boston Scientific (up $0.19 to $16.40, Charts) earlier this year. This has fueled speculation that he might sell Bristol. However, an analyst told CNNMoney.com in a recent interview that Schering is too small to buy Bristol.

Bristol has a market capitalization of $49 billion, compared to the Kenilworth, N.J.-based Schering's market cap of $31 billion.

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