Carmat, a company that makes artificial hearts and has faced financial challenges, announced on Monday that it successfully raised €7 million ($7.4 million) in capital. Many of its historical financial shareholders backed this capital-raising initiative.
Even though Carmat has received this investment, it estimates needing an additional €50 million ($52.6 million) to cover its expenses and investments until October 2024. The company’s shareholders include the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
Airbus, which was previously the largest shareholder in Carmat, did not participate in this recent capital raising. As a result, its ownership stake in Carmat has dropped from 11.7% to 10.8%, making it the second-largest investor according to Carmat.
Carmat expects to see growth in its sales within Europe. It aims for revenues ranging from €4 million to €6 million in the latter half of 2023, with a significant surge in sales expected in 2024.
Stéphane Piat, Chief Executive Officer of CARMAT, comments: “As the early momentum of Aeson® sales bas been confirming in recent weeks, I am delighted by the confidence in our project, demonstrated by three of our long-standing shareholders (Lohas, Santé Holdings and Therabel Invest). Their financial support will enable us to continue the deployment of our strategic plan over the coming months, and particularly to support the acceleration of our sales and our EFICAS clinical trial in France.”
“We are also very actively working on other financing solutions and measures which, combined with a strict financial discipline, should enable us to further extend our financial visibility.”
“We are confident in the robustness and safety of our artificial heart and in its strong potential, and are determined to lead Carmat to commercial success and profitability, with the support of our teams, shareholders, and partners, for the benefit of patients suffering from advanced biventricular heart failure.”
Airbus had become the largest shareholder in Carmat after one of its founders, the late industrialist Jean-Luc Lagardere, diverted engineers specializing in precision missile parts into a new venture with prominent heart surgeon Alain Carpentier in 1993.
About Carmat
The Aeson® artificial heart is designed, produced, and sold by the French MedTech company Carmat. With a well-known shortage of human grafts, the company’s goal is to make Aeson® the first heart transplant substitute and thereby offer a therapeutic option to those with end-stage biventricular heart failure.
