National Bacteriological Laboratory

Statens Bakteriologiska Laboratorium (SBL), known in English as the National Bacteriological Laboratory, was a Swedish government agency and vaccine manufacturer that played a pivotal role in global public health. Founded in 1909, the institution was responsible for the development and production of essential vaccines, most notably the oral cholera vaccine Dukoral. In the early 1990s, the laboratory's commercial vaccine division was spun off as SBL Vaccin AB to facilitate privatization. This entity was later acquired by PowderJect Pharmaceuticals in 2001, and through subsequent mergers, its assets became part of Chiron, Novartis, and eventually Valneva. The laboratory's non-commercial research and epidemiological functions were merged into what is now the Public Health Agency of Sweden.