Deal Synthesizes Diagnostics and Disease ManagementDeal Synthesizes Diagnostics and Disease Management

Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. (Waltham, MA) announced it will buy Alere Medical Inc. (Reno, NV) for $302 million, reports Bloomberg News.On the surface it sounds small-potatoes, given the size of some other recent deals. But here's the twist: Inverness is a medical diagnostics company; Alere is a disease management company.Alere manages home care for patients with heart failure. Inverness develops tests for heart disease and stroke. Inverness believes the two services are complementary.