[2] He completed his urologic surgery residency at Harvard Medical School in 1985, and his Surgical Oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute in 1988.
In April 2011, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved abiraterone acetate (Zytiga), Cougar's lead product, for late-stage prostate cancer.
[11][12] In 2008, Belldegrun became the chairman and partner of Two River, a New York-based venture capital firm and merchant bank focused on the life science sector.
Based in Santa Monica, Kite Pharma is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of novel cancer immunotherapy products with a primary focus on engineered autologous T cell therapy (eACT) designed to restore the immune system's ability to recognize and eradicate tumors.
[14] On August 28, 2017, Gilead Sciences announced that it would acquire Kite Pharma for $11.9 billion in an all-cash deal,[15] equating to $180 cash per share.
[18] In 2017, Belldegrun became the co-founder and senior managing director of Vida Ventures, a Boston-based life sciences investment firm that consists of scientists, physicians, entrepreneurs, and investors passionate about building and funding breakthroughs in biomedicine.
[23][24][25] On October 11, 2018, Allogene Therapeutics raised $324 million in an initial public offering on the NASDAQ, listing under the ticker "ALLO".
[26][27] In July 2019, it was reported that Bellco Capital, Belldegrun's family office, has entered into a joint venture with Tishman Speyer to start Breakthrough Properties.
[33] In the past, he served on the board of directors of Teva Pharmaceuticals, Cell Design Labs, Arno Therapeutics, SonaCare Medical, Roei Medical Technologies, Oncura, Nile Therapeutics, Hana Biosciences, Paramount Acquisition Corp and Chem Rx Corp.[33] Belldegrun is married to Rebecka Belldegrun and together they have four children.
[44] Belldegrun has written over 500 scientific publications related to urologic oncology and has authored several books on prostate and kidney cancers.