Ask for the certificate of analysis. If they get cagey, that tells you everything.
Paraphrased from a public threadHow much does stem cell therapy cost in Mexico? Here is what decides it.
Your price depends on the cell type and dose, how many areas are treated, and the same-day IV. Celva's physician team reviews your imaging and reports (if you have none, the scan can be done at the hospital), and then you get the number in writing, itemized, for treatment inside Hospital Angeles, Tijuana, 25 to 30 minutes from San Diego.
A patient coordinator typically calls within 1 business day. About 15 minutes, no cost, no obligation.
→ A written, itemized quote→ Cell count and viability printed on every quote→ No price before the physician team reviews your case→ Hospital, transport, and follow-up inside the number→ HSA and FSA questions welcome→ Inquiries declined when not a fit→ ~25–30 min from San Diego, door to door
What decides your price.
Stem cell therapy is priced like a procedure, not a product. Five things set the cost of your day, and every one of them is decided from your case by the physician team, not picked off a menu.
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Cell type
Which cells, and who grew them.
Umbilical-cord MSCs (mesenchymal stem cells), bone-marrow MSCs, or chondrocytes (the cells that produce cartilage), and often a mix of them, grown in the on-site lab at Hospital Angeles and released on six lab tests. Different cells carry different lab work. Cells are the largest line on the bill.
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Dose
How many cells, verified alive the morning you are treated.
The count is set for your case and re-checked that morning: at least 95% viable at infusion. A bigger dose costs more. A dose nobody verified costs less. Celva verifies every one.
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Areas treated
One knee, or both, and your back?
More areas means more physician time and a larger total dose. All of it on the same day.
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A same-day IV
The systemic infusion on a joint or spine day.
An IV changes the dose, so it changes the number. Almost every joint and spine patient also receives a systemic IV the same day.
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Follow-up
Check-ins for good, inside the number.
Follow-up calls at 1 week, then at 1, 3 and 6 months, then once a year, are part of the quote. Not a plan you buy afterward.
Cell therapy is not FDA-approved for these uses in the United States and is not a covered benefit by US insurers. Patients pay directly. HSA and FSA eligibility depends on your plan.
Cells you cannot get in the United States.
Every clinic you are comparing says "stem cell therapy". They are not the same product. The FDA pathway most US clinics operate under allows your own cells, minimally handled and injected the same day. Culture-expanded allogeneic MSCs (from a screened donor, grown in a lab, with no harvest procedure for you) are not available under it. Those are the cells Celva treats with: grown in the on-site cGMP lab at Hospital Angeles (cGMP: the rules for how drugs must be made), with a culture medium and process developed in-house, refined over 17 years, and used nowhere else. That is what you are pricing.
The US same-day pathway
Your own cells, minimally handled
- Your own bone marrow, harvested and injected in the same procedure. Fat-derived cells do not qualify: the FDA treats them as a drug.
- Minimally handled by rule, so the cells are never grown or expanded.
- A smaller, less characterized dose than a lab pipeline produces.
- Viability at infusion is rarely counted, because there is no lot to release.
Why the cells are the reason
Cells found nowhere else
- Three cell types from screened donors (cord and bone-marrow MSCs, and chondrocytes), culture-expanded and matched to your case, not available under the US same-day pathway.
- Grown in the on-site cGMP lab at Hospital Angeles by the team that treats you, with a culture medium and process developed in-house over 17 years. Most clinics buy frozen vials from an outside supplier.
- Every lot released on six lab tests: sterility, identity, viability, potency, endotoxin, mycoplasma.
- At least 95% viable at infusion, the post-thaw number, checked the morning you are treated. Not the freeze-date number.
- The physician team reviews your records, and one of the physician team treats you.
- Fluoroscopy or ultrasound guidance for every targeted injection, in a hospital procedure suite.
Two questions separate the quotes: who grew the cells, and when did anyone last check that they were alive? Ask any clinic, ours included.
What a real quote includes.
You are not pricing a syringe. You are pricing the cells, the room, and the people in it. Here is what a Celva number covers, in writing, so you can put it beside any other clinic's quote line by line.
In the quote
One written number
- Cell type, count, dose, and the viability check, printed on the quote.
- The physician team's review of your records before any number.
- Cells grown in the on-site cGMP lab, released on six lab tests.
- Treatment inside Hospital Angeles, Tijuana, a 116-bed hospital.
- Imaging at the hospital when your case needs it, included at no charge, and labs when the physician team asks for them.
- Image-guided injection or IV in a hospital procedure suite.
- Private transport from San Diego, both directions, driver across the border with you.
- A US patient coordinator, start to finish.
- Follow-up calls for good, yearly after month 6.
Not in the quote
Because it is not in the treatment
- Hotel nights and group shuttles.
- Upsells after your quote arrives.
- Add-on sessions you did not ask for.
- Med spa extras sold in the same room, with no bearing on your result.
- A "package" that skips reading your imaging.
- A deposit before a physician has seen your file.
- A number before a physician has read your case.
- Fees that appear after treatment.
Ask any clinic for this breakdown. Then ask us.
"Has anyone actually been there?"
It is the most asked question in every forum thread, and it is the right one. Five real Celva patients, named, on camera, in their own words. No scripts. Individual results vary.
The cost questions everyone asks.
These are the questions we hear on almost every first call about price. Straight answers. Not reassurances.
How much do stem cell treatments cost?
There is no single sticker price, and a clinic that quotes you one before reviewing your case is guessing. Your number depends on cell type and dose, how many areas are treated in a day, and the same-day IV. The physician team reviews your records first, then a patient coordinator sends you a written, itemized quote for your case.
Is stem cell therapy in Mexico cheaper than in the United States?
You are not comparing the same product. The FDA pathway most US clinics operate under allows your own cells, minimally handled and injected the same day. Culture-expanded allogeneic MSCs, grown in a lab from a screened donor, are not available under it, and those are the cells Celva treats with: grown in the on-site cGMP lab at Hospital Angeles with a process developed in-house over 17 years. Compare the cells, the dose, and the viability check, then compare the number.
How do I get an actual number for my case?
Book a call. A patient coordinator gathers your imaging, reports, and symptoms, the physician team reviews them, and a written quote comes back for your case. If you are not a candidate, we tell you that instead of quoting you.
Does insurance cover stem cell therapy, and can I use an HSA or FSA?
Insurance, no. Cell therapy is not FDA-approved for these uses in the United States and is not a covered benefit by US insurers, so patients pay directly. HSA and FSA eligibility depends on your plan and the documentation it requires. Your patient coordinator works through all of it before you commit to anything.
What decides the quality of the cells, and how do I check it?
Ask two questions of any clinic: who made the cells, and when did anyone last check that they were alive? At Celva the cells are umbilical-cord MSCs, bone-marrow MSCs, or chondrocytes, matched to your case, grown in the on-site cGMP lab at Hospital Angeles with a culture medium and process developed in-house over 17 years. Every lot passes six lab tests: sterility, identity, viability, potency, endotoxin, mycoplasma. The count is re-checked the morning of treatment, at least 95% viable at infusion, and the cell type, count, and viability are printed on your quote. Ask any clinic for the same numbers in writing.
Is the cheapest quote the best deal?
Not usually. A low quote often means a smaller dose, a cell count nobody verified, or a room without imaging in it. Ask any clinic what you get for the number, then compare those answers rather than the prices.
How long do results last, and will I need to pay again?
Results vary by condition and by patient, and no honest clinic promises a duration. The physician team sets expectations for your case before you commit to anything, and whether a second treatment makes sense is decided at your follow-up reviews, never as a surprise on a bill.
Is stem cell therapy in Mexico a scam?
Some of it is, and pretending otherwise would insult your research. The market includes storefront clinics, addresses nobody can verify, and quotes for cells nobody counted. It also includes licensed physicians working inside real hospitals. The difference is checkable before you pay: verify the facility, verify the physician, and ask for the cell count and viability in writing.
Do I ever talk to an actual doctor, or just a salesperson?
The physician team reviews your records before you get a number, and you meet the physician before treatment. Coordinators handle travel and scheduling, not medical answers. If you want to interview the doctor first, do it. You should, here and anywhere else.
Is it safe to travel to Tijuana for treatment?
You are picked up in San Diego, driven across the border in a private vehicle, and treated inside Hospital Angeles Tijuana. Most patients come back the same day through the medical lane. You are never navigating an unfamiliar city on your own, and the full route is planned with you before you commit.
Five signs of a bad quote, from people who got one.
We read dozens of forum threads from people comparing stem cell clinics in Mexico. The same five warnings came up in their own words. Each one is a question you can ask on the first call, ours included.
No cell count or viability on the quote.
Two numbers decide what you are getting: how many cells, and how many are alive on the day. A quote that hides them is hiding the numbers that matter.
A price before a physician reviews your case.
A quote before anyone has read your imaging, reports, and symptoms is a package, not a treatment plan.
They had a number for me before anyone had looked at my file.
Paraphrased from a public threadA price far below everyone else's.
Real cells, a real physician, and a real facility cost real money. Far below the field usually means a smaller dose or a count nobody verified.
A number far below everyone else is not a deal. Something is missing.
Paraphrased from a public threadAn address you cannot verify.
A storefront can be gone next month. A 116-bed hospital cannot. Look the facility up, call it, and make sure you could walk into it.
The address on their site turned out to be a PO box.
Paraphrased from a public threadA week of extras inside the price.
Hotel nights, group shuttles, and add-on sessions do not change your treatment. Ask what the price is without them.
Why am I paying for a week at a hotel for a one-day treatment?
Paraphrased from a public threadCompare quotes, not prices.
Celva · Patient edition
The clinic evaluation checklist.
- Before you book6
- Credibility and trust6
- Consultation quality6
- Treatment clarity5
- Safety and confidence5
28 questions, for any clinic.
Use it on every clinic you are comparing, ours included, and put the answers side by side. It covers the cell count, who reads your imaging, where you are treated, and what the quote leaves out.
Open the checklist →9 pages. Read it here or save the PDF. No email required.
What brought you here?
A joint that has had enough, a body worth protecting, or a diagnosis no one can explain. The quote is different for each, and the first call is the same.
Musculoskeletal
You've been told replacement is next for your knee, hip, shoulder, or back. You want a real number for the alternative before you decide.
Book a call about your joint →Longevity
Nothing is broken, and you intend to keep it that way. You want to know what a systemic infusion costs.
Book a call about longevity →Neurologic, cardiovascular & autoimmune
A complex diagnosis, and more specialists than you can count. You want a candid read on fit before anyone talks about a number.
Book a call about your case →Start with a conversation.
No pressure and no commitments. Your first call is with a Celva patient coordinator who gathers your imaging, reports, and symptoms and passes them to Celva's physician team for independent review. If you are a candidate, the number comes back in writing. If you are not, we say so.
These therapies are not FDA-approved. Treatments are performed in Mexico by licensed physicians in a hospital setting. Individual results may vary. Not medical advice.