Fetal Tissue Supplier Charged $765 Per Organ, Records Show Concerns Over Illegal Sales Language

Public records obtained by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) indicate that Cercle Allocation Services billed UCLA a $765 procurement-service fee for each liver and thymus specimen. Internal correspondence from Cercle expressed concern that certain billing language used could improperly suggest that the tissue itself was being sold, according to documents reviewed by Fox News Digital.

An internal UCLA order form identified the purchasing operation as part of the David Geffen School of Medicine’s Division of Hematology-Oncology, referencing the "Mouse Core." The names of researchers and other identifying information were redacted from the records. The records themselves do not establish that UCLA or its researchers engaged in illegal or unethical conduct.

One UCLA purchase order listed seven liver and thymus specimens at a unit amount of $765 each, totaling $5,355. Another order from August 18, 2023, listed five specimens with the same $765 per-specimen amount, totaling $3,825. Additional purchase orders reflected this same per-specimen fee.

Cercle objected to the tax treatment of these purchase orders, requesting UCLA reissue them. The company stated that the charges were for procurement services and that sales tax should not be applied. Cercle warned that language referring to sales tax could improperly imply that the specimens themselves were being sold.

Peer-reviewed scientific literature has identified Cercle as a supplier of human fetal tissue for biomedical research, including fetal liver tissue. The purchase orders reviewed by Fox News Digital identified the organs by type, sample number, and date, but did not explicitly describe them as fetal. The records do not establish that the payments were illegal, as Cercle characterized the fees as reimbursement for procurement services rather than payments for the tissue.

However, internal correspondence revealed Cercle's sensitivity to the terminology. "The overriding issue is the use of terminology that we must not use due to their improper implication that we are selling taxable items, which we are not," a Cercle accounts manager wrote in September 2023. The manager added that "due to the nature of our business we must be very careful and clear that we invoice fees for our procurement services." The same email noted that notations referring to sales tax would imply Cercle was "selling the items received," which the company stated were "illegal to sell." Cercle instructed UCLA to prepare revised purchase orders that authorized payment for its services while referencing individual sample numbers and dates associated with the $765 unit amount.

Federal law prohibits knowingly acquiring, receiving, or otherwise transferring human fetal tissue for "valuable consideration" if it affects interstate commerce. The law permits "reasonable payments" associated with transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control, or storage.

The records reviewed do not establish that Cercle or UCLA violated this federal prohibition. CMP founder David Daleiden raised questions about whether the uniform $765 charges represented permissible reimbursements for procurement-related costs. Daleiden pointed to the consistent $765 amount assigned to individual specimens, including multiple organs listed on the same date, suggesting it raises questions about whether these payments reflected costs permitted under federal law.

The documents reviewed by Fox News Digital do not contain Cercle’s invoices or underlying cost calculations, and therefore do not establish whether the $765 amount exceeded reasonable procurement-related expenses. Daleiden also stated that UCLA did not produce Cercle’s invoices in response to the public records request.

The May 2025 request from CMP sought records related to UCLA IRB No. 11-002504 and communications from 2023 onward between UCLA study authors and Advanced Bioscience Resources or Cercle. UCLA stated it redacted certain researcher identities due to concerns about threats and harassment related to sensitive research.

Records indicate the relationship between UCLA and Cercle continued into 2025. A February 2025 Cercle ticket involving UCLA was titled "Liver and brain." Cercle responded on March 3 that it had been "unable to fulfill your request today" and canceled the ticket. These records do not specify whether the requested tissue was fetal or confirm if any brain tissue was ultimately procured or transferred.

Daleiden has been investigating fetal-tissue procurement since CMP released undercover videos involving Planned Parenthood officials in 2015. His investigation later became the subject of a California criminal case. Charges filed under then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra were dismissed by a California judge in April 2026, and the case was expunged.

UCLA and Cercle Allocation Services did not respond to requests for comment. The records do not establish that the UCLA-Cercle transactions violated federal law, nor have UCLA or Cercle been accused or charged by authorities with illegal conduct in connection with these transactions.