Arie Belldegrun

Arie S. Belldegrun
Born	1949 Tel Aviv, Israel
Occupation(s)	Urologic oncologist, entrepreneur, investor
Years active	1974–present
Known for	Founding chairman of Agensys; founder, chairman, president and CEO of Kite Pharma; co-founder of Vida Ventures and Allogene Therapeutics; director of UCLA Institute of Urologic Oncology

Arie S. Belldegrun (; born 1949) is an Israeli-American urologic oncologist, entrepreneur, investor, and billionaire, recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS).

Early life and education

Belldegrun was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. He obtained his medical degree in 1974 from Hadassah Medical Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and pursued further postgraduate research at the Weizmann Institute of Science, completing it in 1979. His residency in urologic surgery was completed at Harvard Medical School in 1985, followed by a Surgical Oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute in 1988. He holds certification from the American Board of Urology and is a fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons. Currently, Belldegrun holds positions as director of the UCLA Institute of Urologic Oncology, professor of urology, and chief of the Division of Urologic Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine.

Career

In 1996, Belldegrun established Agensys, a privately held biotechnology company based in Los Angeles that specialized in developing fully human monoclonal antibodies aimed at solid tumors. He acted as founding chairman until 2002 and continued serving on its board until Agensys was acquired by Astellas Pharma in 2007 for $537 million.

Belldegrun played a founding role at Cougar Biotechnology beginning in 2003, where he served as vice-chairman and chaired the scientific advisory board. Cougar focused on oncology therapeutics and was purchased by Johnson & Johnson in 2009 for $970 million. Its primary drug, abiraterone acetate (marketed as Zytiga), gained FDA approval in 2011 for treating advanced prostate cancer.

Joining Two River Capital in 2008 as chairman and partner, Belldegrun contributed to this New York-based venture capital and merchant banking firm that invests in life sciences sectors such as oncology, cardiovascular diseases, neurological conditions, and companion animal health.

As founder, chairman, president, and CEO of Kite Pharma—launched in 2009 and publicly traded since 2014—he spearheaded the development of engineered autologous T cell therapies (eACT) designed for cancer immunotherapy. In 2017, Gilead Sciences acquired Kite Pharma for $11.9 billion, incorporating CAR-T therapy Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel) into its portfolio; Yescarta became the first FDA-approved CAR-T treatment targeting large B-cell lymphoma.

In 2017, Belldegrun co-founded Vida Ventures, a Boston-based life sciences investment firm with operations on both U.S. coasts. By 2021, Vida had raised $825 million for its third fund and managed roughly $1.7 billion in assets.

That year also saw him co-founding Allogene Therapeutics in San Francisco, concentrating on allogeneic CAR-T therapies. The company secured $300 million through Series A financing plus an additional $120 million privately before completing a $324 million initial public offering on NASDAQ under the ticker "ALLO" in October 2018.

In collaboration with Tishman Speyer through his family office Bellco Capital, Belldegrun launched Breakthrough Properties in 2019—a real estate platform dedicated to life sciences facilities within biotech hubs. Breakthrough acquired its inaugural property in Boston’s Seaport District for $80 million and closed its first fund at $1 billion in 2020.

In May 2021, Bellco Capital co-sponsored Ginkgo Bioworks' $2.5 billion SPAC merger with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp., valuing Ginkgo at $15 billion. The company now trades on the NYSE under "DNA," with Belldegrun serving on its board.

According to Bloomberg’s Pay Index in 2014, Belldegrun ranked eighth among highest-paid U.S. executives with earnings estimated at $95.2 million. Forbes Israel positioned him and Rebecka Belldegrun as the 36th wealthiest individuals in Israel in 2021 with an estimated net worth of $1.75 billion. Their philanthropy includes donations exceeding $1 million to the University of Pennsylvania and gifting a $5 million sculpture to LACMA.

Belldegrun has been consistently recognized among Los Angeles’ most influential figures by the Los Angeles Business Journal from 2017 through 2021 and was honored as Business Leader of the Year in Health Care in 2018. That same year he received the EY Master Entrepreneur Award and has been acknowledged by CEO Today USA Awards for his innovation and leadership.

Authoring over 500 scientific articles related to urologic oncology, he has also delivered keynote addresses at prominent events such as the Milken Institute Global Conference and J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.

His advisory roles include participation on boards like the University of Pennsylvania’s Vagelos Program and Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. Presently he serves on boards including Kronos Bio, Fosun Kite, UroGen Pharma, Pontifax, ByHeart, and IconOVir Bio; previously he held board positions at Teva Pharmaceuticals and Cell Design Labs.

Personal life

Arie Belldegrun is married to Rebecka Belldegrun, and together they have four children. The family lives in Bel Air, Los Angeles.

External links

• Arie Belldegrun on Bloomberg