• by Laurie Petersen , December 28, 2006

Procter & Gamble Co. will invest $325 million in a 50-50 joint venture with Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. to develop and market products that will allow consumers to diagnose their own medical conditions, the companies said yesterday.

Inverness makes medical diagnostic tools geared toward consumers and healthcare professionals. Its products focus on women's health--including consumer pregnancy and fertility tests--as well as cardiology and infectious diseases. Inverness also makes vitamins and nutritional supplements.

"We believe that Inverness' experience and expertise in this field can be combined with P&G's consumer marketing and customer development capabilities to create tremendous new opportunities in the growing self-care market," said Richard June, vice president of P&G's Global Personal Health Care, in a statement. P&G's consumer health brands include Pepto-Bismol, Prilosec and Vicks.

Waltham, MA-based Inverness will develop and manufacture diagnostic tools in the collaboration. Cincinnati-based P&G will market, sell and distribute existing and future products. The joint venture does not cover cardiology and diabetes care products that Inverness is already developing on its own.

"Inverness is proud to be contributing its consumer diagnostics business to the joint venture with P&G. We believe that this is a best-of-breed combination that has the potential for terrific growth," said Ron Zwanziger, CEO of Inverness, in the statement.

The deal is expected to close in the latter half of the first quarter, 2007.