Materialise Acquires Orthopaedic Planning Software Company OrthoView

Materialise NV announced the acquisition of UK-based OrthoView Holdings Limited, a leading provider of 2D digital pre-operative planning and templating solutions for orthopedic surgeons. Materialise acquired OrthoView for a cash payment of £8.47 million, and a possible additional earn out payment of up to £0.36 million. 

The transaction combines the frontrunner in 2D templating on X-ray images with Materialise’s market-leading position in 3D pre-operative planning tools to provide surgeons and hospitals a one-stop shop for surgical planning software tools and corresponding 3D printed medical devices.

Materialise founder and CEO Fried Vancraen commented, “We are extremely proud that OrthoView has joined the Materialise Group. With an outstanding reputation in the surgical pre-planning world, complementary product portfolio and a robust sales reach, OrthoView is an ideal fit for Materialise. Its X-ray based, pre-operative planning software is used in 2000 hospitals worldwide and is connected to many Picture Archiving Communications Systems (PACS). Our combined expertise and sales force will allow us to offer, through various channels, a complete range of services and solutions to surgeons and hospitals; with 2D as well as 3D planning tools for almost any type of medical images and with the possibility to offer corresponding 3D printed surgical guides and models. With our combined team, Materialise is now even better positioned to bring new patient-specific healthcare innovations to market to cost-effectively deliver improved and customized solutions to patients.”

OrthoView’s software imports a digital X-ray image from a PACS and positions the templates of suitable prostheses on the X-ray image at the correct scale. OrthoView currently serves more than 11,000 orthopedic surgeons in 60 countries globally, focusing primarily on joint replacements. It currently employs approximately 23 people, all of whom are expected to join Materialise. OrthoView had UK GAAP sales of £3,37 million in its 2013-2014 fiscal year and realized a UK GAAP EBITDA margin of approximately 27.5% over the same period.

“OrthoView is thrilled to become part of Materialise,” stated Mr. John Chambers, the company’s co-founder and CEO, “Surgeons and PACS partners have always seen 3D planning as a natural addition to the OrthoView product portfolio, but building up that kind of expertise requires years of development and a huge investment. With Materialise already at the forefront of this technology, our team can quickly expand the solutions we offer to surgeons worldwide”. Mr. Chambers, who will continue his career within the Materialise group, also sees potential to increase the global reach of OrthoView’s current product portfolio as a result of the transaction.

For almost 25 years, Materialise has been at the forefront of major innovations in 3D surgical planning based on CT, MRI and most recently, X-ray images. Its vast experience in 3D printing technologies has made it possible for the company to provide patient-specific anatomical models to surgeons as well as patient-specific instrumentation. Materialise has software and service solutions for joint replacements, osteotomies, distractions and cranio-maxillofacial reconstructions, and through its subsidiaries, Mobelife and OBL, provides customized 3D printed implants.