Is stem cell therapy FDA approved?
Only for a few specific uses. The FDA says its approved stem cell products are cord blood-derived blood-forming cell products for disorders of the blood-forming system. Its approved-products register also lists Ryoncil, a mesenchymal stromal cell therapy approved in December 2024 for steroid-refractory acute GVHD in children, and Omisirge. The FDA warns that most other stem cell, cord blood, Wharton's jelly and exosome products marketed to consumers are not approved.
Answer
You can check a product's status in the FDA's public list of approved cellular and gene therapy products.[2] Listing a trial in a registry, or registering a firm with the FDA, does not mean a product is legally marketed.[1]
Stem cells in cosmetic surgery
In cosmetic surgery, "stem cell" procedures almost always use adipose-derived stem cells. The stromal vascular fraction (SVF), which contains them, is separated from liposuctioned fat and mixed into the fat being grafted, as in stem cell breast augmentation and stem cell fat grafting.
Sources
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- governmentApproved Cellular and Gene Therapy Products — U.S. Food and Drug Administration · accessed Nov 12, 2026 · Evidence page
- journalOne and a half million hematopoietic stem cell transplants: continuous and differential improvement in worldwide access with the use of non-identical family donors (Niederwieser D, et al., Haematologica 107(5):1045-1053) — Haematologica · accessed Nov 10, 2026 · Evidence page
- organizationStem Cell Resources for Patients — International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) · accessed Sep 22, 2026 · Evidence page
- governmentGraft-versus-host disease: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia — U.S. National Library of Medicine (MedlinePlus) · accessed Nov 10, 2026 · Evidence page
- journalMesenchymal Stem Cell Therapies Approved by Regulatory Agencies around the World (Fernández-Garza LE, et al., Pharmaceuticals 16(9):1334) — Pharmaceuticals (MDPI) · accessed Nov 10, 2026 · Evidence page
- governmentAlofisel: EPAR — European Medicines Agency · accessed Nov 10, 2026 · Evidence page
- organizationFDA Approves Remestemcel-L-Rknd for Steroid-Refractory Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease in Pediatric Patients — Oncology Nursing Society · accessed Nov 10, 2026 · Evidence page
- journalNew legal category of 'advanced regenerative medicine treatment' in Korea's amended regenerative medicine law: comparative lessons from Japan (Yoon, Lee, Kim) — Stem Cell Reports · accessed Nov 10, 2026 · Evidence page
- journalUnproven stem cell therapy for macular degeneration (Ansari ZA, Kuriyan AE, Albini TA) — Oncotarget · accessed Nov 10, 2026 · Evidence page