ATOM STEM CELLS

"10 million cells per vial."

Sounds good. But it might be 5 million you can use.

Here's why. There are two numbers, and suppliers don't always tell you which one you're looking at.

▫️ Total count: every cell in the sample. Alive or dead.
▫️ Viability: the percent of those cells that were alive and membrane-intact when tested.
▫️ Viable count: total count times viability.

So 10 million total cells at 50% viability is 5 million viable cells. (Example numbers, to show the math.)

"But the brochure says the count was high." Maybe it was. Before freezing. On a different lot. Counted a different way. A count without a lot number and a method is a marketing claim, not a test result.

Ask any supplier one question: what is the post-thaw viable cell count for this lot, and what method was used to measure it?

ATOM reports viable count and viability together on every lot-specific COA. Our release specification is 95% post-thaw viability, documented per lot.

How counting works, start to finish: atomstemcells.com/learn/how-stem-cell-counting-works

For licensed healthcare providers only. ATOM products are not FDA-approved or cleared and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease.

This isn't a rendering. It's a live look under the microscope.

Those dark, round spots are MUSE cell colonies. They grow in clusters like this.

Here's what Muse cells are, in plain terms:

▫️ They were first described in 2010 by Dezawa's group (Kuroda et al.).
▫️ They're a naturally occurring subpopulation inside MSC sources. Not a separate category competing with MSCs. A subset.
▫️ They're identified by a marker called SSEA-3, alongside the usual mesenchymal markers.

That last point is the one that matters to you. If a supplier says "Muse," ask how they know. Which marker? What percentage? Measured on which lot?

"So is ATOM SSEC™ pure Muse?" No. It's a characterized preparation, and we say so. Our release specs are SSEA-3 at 60% or higher and CD105 at 70% or higher. A representative lot came in at 71.5% and 97.3%. Those are representative numbers. Your lot has its own COA.

If anyone tells you their product is "100% Muse," ask to see the flow data.

More on Muse cells: atomstemcells.com/learn/what-are-muse-cells

For licensed healthcare providers only. ATOM products are not FDA-approved or cleared and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease. Provider-directed use only.

A patient looks at you and asks, "Is this safe?"

What do you say?

The honest answer isn't yes or no. It's what the trials reported, and what they didn't cover. We just published a plain-English walk-through of the two big reviews.

Here's what they reported:

▫️ An earlier systematic review pooled 8 randomized trials of MSCs (Lalu et al., 2012, the SafeCell review).
▫️ A 2020 review pooled 55 randomized trials and 2,696 adults given IV or intravascular MSCs (Thompson et al., 2020).
▫️ Fever was reported more often with MSCs (risk ratio 2.48). The review reported no significant increase in the other adverse events it tracked.
▫️ Only 15 of the 55 trials used cryopreserved cells.
▫️ Only 29 reported viability. 8 reported potency. 7 reported all three Dominici criteria.

"So the trials cover the product I'm buying?" No. They don't automatically apply to any commercial product. Ours included.

That's the gap. Nearly half of those trials never reported whether the cells were alive. So ask any supplier what was measured on your lot. Viability after thaw. Viable count. Identity. On paper, tied to the lot number.

Full breakdown with references: atomstemcells.com/post/iv-msc-safety-randomized-trials

Want to see what's measured on an ATOM lot? Ask the ATOM team: atomstemcells.com/contact

For licensed healthcare providers only. Educational summary of published research, not a claim about the safety, performance, or effectiveness of any product. ATOM products are not FDA-approved or cleared and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease.

Here's a quick way to find out if a supplier understands their own product.

Ask for the viability of their exosomes.

If you get a percentage, that's a problem. Exosomes aren't cells. They're vesicles, about 30 to 150 nanometers across. No nucleus. They can't replicate. There's nothing in there to be "alive."

A mesenchymal stem cell is a different thing: a living cell, roughly 10 to 30 microns, where viability and viable count actually mean something.

Different products, different release tests:
▫️ Cell product: post-thaw viability and viable cell count, measured on the lot
▫️ Exosome product: particle concentration and size, measured on the lot

Same rule for both. The number should match the lot in your hand, and you should know how it was measured.

More on the difference: atomstemcells.com/learn/exosomes-vs-stem-cells

For licensed healthcare providers only. Educational content, not product claims. ATOM products are not FDA-approved or cleared and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease.

These are MUSE Stem Cells. The dark circles are MUSE Colonies.
Biology is crazy! They do this on their own

When you draw up a vial labeled "stem cells," how do you know anything in it is alive?

Often, you don't. Three peer-reviewed lab studies went and checked.

▫️ A 2021 study tested five commercial umbilical cord products that each claimed to contain viable stem cells. It reported viability of 1% to 59%, and no colony-forming cells in any of them.
▫️ A 2019 study of commercial amniotic fluid products reported that MSCs could not be identified in any product tested. Most nucleated cells were dead. Four of the seven companies invited declined to send product.
▫️ A 2026 review, with its own lab analysis, reported 0% to 19.1% viability and only rare viable MSCs in Wharton's jelly tissue products.

"Aren't those studies biased?" Fair question. Some of the authors have industry ties, and the papers disclose them. ATOM sells cord-derived products, so we have a stake too.

So don't take anyone's word for it. Not theirs. Not ours. Ask for the method instead: the viable count after thaw, how it was measured and by whom, which identity markers were tested, and a COA that matches the lot number on the vial.

Living cells and stem cells are two different measurements. Ask for both.

Full breakdown with references: atomstemcells.com/post/umbilical-cord-stem-cell-products-tested

For licensed healthcare providers only. Educational summary of published research, not a claim about the performance, safety, or effectiveness of any product. ATOM products are not FDA-approved or cleared and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease.

A cell can pass a live/dead stain and still be on its way out.

That's the part of post-thaw viability you won't find on most brochures.

We just published a plain-English walk-through of four peer-reviewed lab studies on thawed MSCs. Here's what they reported:

▫️ MSCs tested directly after thaw showed reduced immunomodulatory and blood-regulatory properties in the lab, compared with cells from continuous culture (Moll et al., 2014).
▫️ Freshly thawed MSCs showed lower CD44 and CD105 and more apoptosis, with partial recovery after a 24-hour rest in culture (Antebi et al., 2019).
▫️ DMSO-free cryoprotectants did not prevent the thaw defects one team studied (Chinnadurai et al., 2016). ATOM uses DMSO-free freezing, so we'd rather you hear that from us.
▫️ A 2019 systematic review found the evidence mixed or "undefined" for several attributes, because protocols and assays vary so much.

Most of this work used bone marrow MSCs in research labs. It doesn't transfer one-to-one to any cord product, ours included.

So what do you do with it? Ask better questions. When was viability measured after thaw? What method? Which lab? Were identity markers checked after thaw, or only before freezing?

If a supplier can't answer on paper, that's an answer.

Read the full post: atomstemcells.com/post/post-thaw-stem-cell-viability

For licensed healthcare providers only. Educational summary of published research, not a claim about the performance, safety, or effectiveness of any product. ATOM products are not FDA-approved or cleared and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease.

Did you know? "FDA-registered" and "FDA-approved" are not the same thing. Four things worth knowing before you order from anyone:

1. "FDA-registered" refers to facility registration only, not approval, clearance, or endorsement of any product. ATOM products are not FDA-approved or FDA-cleared.
2. HCT/Ps are regulated under 21 CFR Part 1271. Homologous use (21 CFR 1271.3(c)) is one of the criteria FDA uses to decide how a product is regulated.
3. Ask for documents, not adjectives: a lot-specific COA, post-thaw viability measured on that lot, independent third-party testing, and a named signatory.
4. State law varies. The ordering provider confirms that their license, scope of practice, and applicable law permit the intended use.

Compliance isn't a marketing angle. It's what protects the provider whose name ends up on the chart.

Full regulatory disclosures: atomstemcells.com/disclaimers

For licensed healthcare providers only. ATOM products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease.

Every consultant has a pitch deck. We have a clinic.

We built ATOM around one standard: document what's actually in the vial. Post-thaw viability is measured on each lot after freeze and thaw by an independent third-party lab, and reported on a lot-specific COA that matches the vial.

For practices that want more than product, the ATOM partner program adds:
▫️ Supply: transparent partner pricing and a lot-specific COA with every shipment
▫️ Demand: Meta and Google ads, direct mail, SEO, and a CRM with automated follow-up
▫️ Ex*****on: role-based staff training, consent templates, and compliance documentation

Partnership is optional. You can order product without joining.

Learn more at atomstemcells.com/partners

For licensed healthcare providers only. Individual business results vary. ATOM products are not FDA-approved or cleared and are for provider-directed use only.

Most stem cell COAs answer the easy questions. Check for the hard one.

Before you order from any supplier, look for four things on the Certificate of Analysis:

1️⃣ A lot number that matches the vial in your hand
2️⃣ An actual viable cell count, with the counting method listed
3️⃣ Post-thaw viability, measured after freeze and thaw, not before
4️⃣ Sterility from an independent third-party lab, reported alongside viability, not instead of it

Why post-thaw? Freezing and thawing are the steps most likely to damage a cell. A viability number taken before the product is frozen tells you almost nothing about what ends up in the syringe.

The most common gap isn't a missing document. It's a missing number.

Every ATOM lot ships with a lot-specific COA that includes post-thaw viability measured by an independent third-party lab. Read the full guide at atomstemcells.com/learn/how-to-read-a-stem-cell-coa

For licensed healthcare providers only. Educational content, not product claims. ATOM products are not FDA-approved or cleared and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease.