Carmat, the French company behind the world’s most advanced total artificial heart, Aeson, has been ordered into liquidation by the Versailles Economic Activities Court.

Once hailed as a breakthrough in French engineering by Professor Alain Carpentier, the company now faces the end of its operations after persistent financial struggles.

The company’s only takeover bid, submitted by Hougou and led by Pierre Bastid, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Carmat and a shareholder with approximately 17% of the company, was rejected by the court.

At the hearing on 30 September, 2025, the Court found that this offer was not admissible as all of the condition’s precedents, in particular that relating to obtaining the financing necessary for the takeover, had not been lifted, according to a Carmat press release.

After a company defaulted on its financial obligations, the judicial administrator filed a request with the Court to convert the judicial recovery proceedings into liquidation proceedings, which was examined by the Court at a hearing held on 14 October, 2025.

“At this stage, it is therefore extremely likely that the Court will be required, on October 14, 2025, to pronounce the liquidation of the Company, whose activities will then cease,” Carmat said in a press release.

Carmat, which first implanted its artificial heart in December 2013, has now entered liquidation. This marks the end of the company and a key moment for clinicians and researchers worldwide who have followed its work in artificial heart technology.

Pioneering Beginnings

The company’s closure ended a 12-year project in heart bioengineering initiated by Professor Alain Carpentier, PhD, cardiac surgeon from the Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou in Paris, France, where he served as a consultant in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery.

The Carmat bioprosthetic total artificial heart, developed in collaboration with engineers from Matra (hence the “Carpentier-Matra” designation), was first implanted on 18 December 2013 in a patient with end-stage heart failure who had no other treatment options.

Unlike the temporary mechanical pumps used for patients awaiting transplants, the mat heart was designed as a permanent replacement.

The Carmat heart was notable for its human-like morphology and biocompatible design. It was also more physiological, reproducing natural heartbeats, and intelligent, being equipped with biosensors to regulate the heart rate. Initially, the device was intended as a long-term solution with an expected lifespan of up to 5 years.

At the beginning of its journey in 2013, Carmat estimated that up to 100,000 patients in the US and Europe could benefit from an artificial heart, targeting a potential market value of €16 billion.

Setbacks and Challenges

The initial optimism surrounding Carmat’s artificial heart was quickly tempered. Soon after the first implantation, the device was linked to several deaths.

In 2016, after implanting the heart in four patients, Carmat received regulatory approval to launch a phase 2 trial involving approximately 20 patients.

The following year, the progress stalled. After the death of the fifth patient, France’s National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products ordered the suspension of all implantations pending investigations into the causes of death.

The company rebounded in 2021 with two major milestones: the first commercial implantation in Italy and the first human implantation in the US as part of a clinical trial.

Later that year, artificial heart implantations were temporarily suspended due to a quality issue and resumed a year later.

In October 2023, Carmat acknowledged its financial difficulties but expressed confidence in restarting operations. This optimism appeared justified when, in early 2025, the company announced the 100th global implantation of the Aeson heart, with the 99th and 100th procedures successfully performed on 7 February 2025 at Lille and Dijon University Hospitals in France.

Despite its technological promise, with each device costing approximately €200,000, the 12-year development of the artificial heart was marked by setbacks, and it was ultimately implanted in only 122 patients with terminal heart failure.

The final decision for Carmat was issued at a hearing on 14 October.

The company assured in a press release that “CARMAT is continuing its activities to a minimum, focusing on supporting patients who currently benefit from the Aeson artificial heart.

In any event, CARMAT makes supporting these patients its priority and will therefore strive to ensure that this is ensured even in the event of compulsory liquidation without continuation of activity.”

This story was translated from Medscape’s French edition.