There has been little movement on the investor lawsuit against GeaCom Inc. in the past six months, and the Duluth-based medical technology company has been keeping plenty busy despite it.
GeaCom, makers of the Phrazer device long in development and gaining traction at major institutions such as the Mayo Clinic, says the lawsuit is "meritless" and will be easily defended on the off chance it reaches a trial.
"The likely path is that the motions will succeed for dismissal," CEO and founder Mat Johnson said Tuesday morning from the seventh floor of the DeWitt Seitz building, where GeaCom is headquartered. "We don't anticipate any real big change between now and the end of the year - it will eventually run its course but we can't speed up the course."
Chris Petri and four other investors filed a lawsuit in Illinois in February seeking to recover more than $3.5 million in investments that court documents say were "induced by ... false statement regarding pending sales." Petri, whose company was once a supplier for GeaCom, has told the News Tribune he's convinced a judgment in their favor is imminent.
Johnson calls the suit "an aggressive attempt to disrupt our business, and we'll keep that at bay as we continue to grow."
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While the Phrazer - a touch-screen medical communication device for use by patients and care providers alike - is the best-known side of the company's business, it's not something that can fly off the shelves.
"People make the mistake of thinking you can just throw a bunch of devices into the world," Johnson said. "It's a very sophisticated market - the pace at what they must go can be frustrating."
What ends up taking much of the company's time is shaking up long-established medical protocol and working through security issues and customization.
"We sell site solutions," Johnson said. "When we made the Superior model we developed and built just north of 300 models, and we've been using those for a process we call TRE (Transition Refine Expansion)."
In March the company said it had secured the Mayo Clinic, Fraser Health Canada and the Austin, Minn., school district as new customers. GeaCom also said it was moving forward with relationships with organizations like HealthPartners, NorthPoint, Occupational Medical Consultants and University of Minnesota Clinics.
The 10-year-old company also launched its next generation of the Phrazer, the Spirit model, which was much faster and more touch-responsive than the last model during a demo on Tuesday.
A letter to investors this summer said GeaCom customers "have budgeted and contracted for over $300 million of new Phrazer-related business through 2018/2019."
