Genentech shares spiked $1.77 to close at $92.63 on the New York Stock Exchange. In after-hours trading, the company's shares nudged up another 30 cents. The nine-month corporate drama apparently is fraying nerves of Genentech employees. Genentech spokesman Geoffrey Teeter became testy when asked by a reporter if he had a comment on the rumor. "No, I don't," he said, then abruptly slammed down the phone. "That tells you how frustrating this has been, and how long the process has been" for Genentech, said John McCamant, editor of the Medical Technology Stock Letter in Berkeley. He dismissed the rumors. Though Roche desperately needs Genentech, Genentech has no incentive to reach an agreement with Roche, which already owns 56 percent of the company, before April, McCamant said. That's when Genentech is expected to make public data from important trials of its blockbuster drug Avastin.