The Câmara Pestana Bacteriological Institute, had its origin in the Bacteriological Institute of Lisbon, created in 1892, which had the designation of Royal Bacteriological Institute of Lisbon in 1895.

Being hosted at the Hospital of S. José it has been transferred to its actual building in 1899, having the name of its founder, Luís da Câmara Pestana, who has deceased in the year of the institute’s foundation.

The Câmara Pestana Bacteriological Institute has been incorporated in the University of Lisbon in 1911, attached to the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon until the publication of the Statutes of the University of Lisbon in 1989.
The institute has been developing actions in the field of public health, for a long period of time, particularly in the fields of diphtheria, streptococcus, clinical microbiology and verification of biological products.

This laboratory is the official national producer of the anti-tuberculosis vaccine and the responsible for the efforts in the eradication of the human manifestation of rabies in Portugal.