SOCLEAN SUES PHILIPS OVER DISPARAGING OZONE CPAP CLEANERS

SoClean, a Peterborough-based manufacturer of ozone-based sleep apnea machine cleaners, has filed a $200 million lawsuit against the Dutch medical equipment giant Philips, saying the company falsely linked problems with its recalled sleep apnea machines to the cleaning methods used in SoClean products.

SoClean said in a lawsuit filed Oct. 12 in Boston federal court that Philips is “pointing the finger at SoClean’s ozone cleaners to divert attention away from Philips’ poor choice of materials and obvious design flaws” in its CPAP devices, which the company recalled in June over potential problems with the foam used to muffle the machines’ noise.

As a result, SoClean’s “sales have plummeted, its brand reputation has been tarnished, and the company has lost an enormous amount of goodwill,” according to the complaint filed by SoClean’s attorney, Colin Cabral of the New York-based law firm Proskauer Rose.

Philips issued a voluntary recall of its products in June, warning of two “possible risks to users related to the sound abatement foam” used in some earlier models of its CPAP machines. Between 3 million and 4 million devices were involved in the recall.

Philips said the foam degradation “may be exacerbated by use of unapproved cleaning methods, such as ozone.”

According to the complaint, Philips repeated the statement several times: on its website, in a July letter to healthcare providers, in its second-quarter financial statement in July, in business conversations and in public interviews. The allegedly false statements were also repeated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the 11,000-member American Academy of Sleep Medicine, several sleep institutes and associations and healthcare providers.

SoClean is seeking $200 million in actual damages, plus unspecified amounts of enhanced damages and attorneys’ fees under those statutes.

3D MANUFACTURING FACILITY TO BE BUILT IN EXETER

Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions (CAES), an Arlington, Va.-based company that serves the aerospace and defense industries, is building a new advanced 3D manufacturing operation at its site in Exeter that will feature a dedicated 3D printing laboratory to support CAES’ partnership with SWISSto12, a provider of 3D-printed technology for radio frequency applications in the aerospace and defense industry.

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, for RF systems is seen as a solution to address increasingly challenging size, weight, power and cost requirements for next-generation aerospace and defense platforms. It requires highprecision formats and complex geometries that allow form factors and performance that cannot be achieved with standard manufacturing solutions.

The operations will feature dedicated equipment for 3D-printed RF technology design and manufacturing, including a qualified laser powder bed fusion machine, associated process support equipment, proprietary metal finishing and plating line, and complete RF testing capability, the company said.

MERCHANTS FLEET BOOSTS FUNDING CAPACITY TO $2 BILLION

Merchants Fleet, the Hooksett-based national fleet management company, has reported an expansion of its core member funding group that enables it to have access to $2 billion in leasing capacity and invest in its growth.

The new group of banks and investors is led by French international banking group BNP Paribas. Merchants’ lead equity partner is Bain Capital Credit.

CEO Brendan P. Keegan said the expanded funding capacity will enable Merchants Fleet to continue to fulfill funding requests while investing in the latest fleet technology. He added that the firm is poised for continued growth as it partners with a network of EV experts it moves forward with its ongoing plans for electrification.