Materialise invests in Replasia to expand personalized hip preservation portfolio

Materialise has made an undisclosed investment in Replasia, a Belgian medical technology startup focused on hip preservation. Replasia develops the 3D Shelf Implant, a patient-matched, additively manufactured device designed to treat adult hip dysplasia by delaying or avoiding total hip replacement. The company also markets HipStudio, an anatomical analysis software platform that provides surgeons with precise measurements for preoperative planning. A first-in-human clinical study for the 3D Shelf Implant launched in the Netherlands in August 2025.

This investment extends Materialise’s presence along the orthopaedic treatment timeline. Materialise already supplies patient-specific acetabular implants for complex revision cases, positioning it at the replacement end of care. Adding a stake in Replasia places Materialise at the preservation end, capturing patients who are too young or too active for joint replacement yet face highly invasive alternatives like periacetabular osteotomy. This fills a long-standing gap in orthopaedic care where no minimally invasive, personalized option existed for adult hip dysplasia. The move fits Materialise’s strategy of building a software-to-implant pipeline across the full care spectrum, leveraging its regulatory and commercial infrastructure to scale Replasia’s technology.

For Replasia, the partnership provides access to Materialise’s established track record in personalized medical devices, digital surgical planning tools, and market access pathways. The clinical trial data from the Netherlands will determine whether the 3D Shelf Implant can achieve the less invasive profile needed for routine adoption. Materialise now gains a position in an early-stage segment where clinical evidence is still being built, but where the patient need - joint preservation - is well documented and underserved.