SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS PROVIDER MATERIALISE COLLABORATES WITH DENTAL MULTINATIONAL

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SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS PROVIDER MATERIALISE COLLABORATES WITH DENTAL MULTINATIONAL
08 September 2006 - Materialise NV

The dental division of the Belgian hi-tech group Materialise became a separate company and Dentsply International acquires a minority shareholder position in Materialise Dental. Materialise Dental is a market leader in dental implantology simulation software, and a leading manufacturer of a variety of surgical guides to assist in the placement of dental implants.

Materialise Dental offers planning and simulation software tools under the SimPlantTM brand. These tools enable implantologists and oral surgeons to scientifically plan dental implant surgery on an interactive basis. SimPlantTM enjoys wide acceptance throughout the world dental market and has a global market share in excess of 60%. Materialise Dental also offers a customized drill guide product under the brand name SurgiGuideTM which can be used by implantologists or oral surgeons during the implant procedure to ensure accurate implant placement.

Materialise Dental holds numerous patents related to preparation of medical models, including dental implant drilling guides, using CT scans and rapid prototyping.

Mr. Wilfried Vancraen, Materialise’s Chief Executive Officer stated, “Dentsply brings a solid base of technologies combined with a broad market reach, which will accelerate the development and access of Materialise Dental products and services to the global market. We have agreed to keep the SimPlantTM product an open platform for computer guided technology, compatible with all implant brands, and we believe Dentsply is the best partner to help drive the penetration of this breakthrough product in the dental market”.

“Materialise Dental inherits the technology and experience of Materialise, and joining forces with Dentsply will allow the company to expand further in the field of 3D Digital Dentistry and Dental CAD/CAM that can be broadly applied in many dental procedures”, says Bart Swaelens, Chief Executive Officer of Materialise Dental.

Mr. Gary Kunkle, Dentsply’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated, “We are excited about our investment in Materialise Dental which has a strong background of innovation in the dental, automation software and rapid prototyping industries. We see significant synergies between their capabilities and Dentsply’s. Materialise Dental will allow Dentsply to continue developing state-of-the-art products to support dental professionals in many categories of care”.

http://www.materialise.com

About: Materialise NV
Begun as a joint venture with the University of Leuven-Belgium, Materialise was one of the first European rapid prototyping service bureaus. It has since grown into a European supplier of plastic prototype solutions, and today is a worldwide leader in the rapid prototyping industry. Materialise offers a broad range of rapid prototyping, tooling and digital CAD software. In addition, Materialise prototypes and software have established a reputation in medicine and dentistry, with clinicians the world over using them in the most complex surgical cases. Its design products division concentrates on the development of rapid manufacturing. The company is privately owned with several subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and the USA, and employs over 300 people in its 4 divisions.

* Materialise Industrial Services to "materialise" technical prototypes and small series through the most advanced prototyping and tooling techniques.
* Materialise Software to develop the technical software applications that allow a more efficient use of the rapid prototyping techniques.
* Materialise Medical to create medical models using these prototyping techniques and to develop medical software packages that are used by clinicians worldwide to assist them in the most complex cases of surgery.
* Materialise.MGX to manufacture design products for the end-user market. MGX is the youngest division and it draws on the knowledge and expertise of the prototyping division.

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  • For September 2006
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