He shared with Sune K. Bergström and John R. Vane the 1982 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning prostaglandins and related substances.

[3][4] Samuelsson was born in Halmstad in southwest Sweden, studied at Lund University, and was a professor in medical and physiological chemistry at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm in 1973.

Discussing the role of prostaglandins in the body, Samuelsson explained, "It's a control system for the cells that participates in many biological functions.

Between 1981 and 1995, about 3,000 papers per year were published that specifically used the expression "prostaglandins," or related terms such as "prostacyclins," "leukotrienes," and "thromboxanes," in their labels and titles.

Samuelsson had served as a director on the boards of Pharmacia AB, NicOx SA, and Schering AG, and was an advisor to the venture capital fund HealthCap.