6-K

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                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM 6-K

                            REPORT OF FOREIGN ISSUER

    PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

                   FILING NO. 1 FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY, 2002







                              Visible Genetics Inc.
                              ---------------------
                           (Exact name of Registrant)


             700 Bay Street, Suite 1000, Toronto ON, Canada M5g 1Z6
             ------------------------------------------------------
                    (Address of principal executive offices)




Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports
under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F

                            Form 20-F  X  Form 40-F
                                      ---           ---

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information
contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the
Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

                                  Yes     No  X
                                      ---    ---

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                              VISIBLE GENETICS INC.

         On January 28, 2002, Visible Genetics Inc. (the "Company") issued a
press release. The press release is attached as Exhibit 1 to this Form 6-K and
incorporated into this Form 6-K by reference.

         This Form 6-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. A variety of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from
the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in these forward looking
statements. The risks and uncertainties that may affect the operations,
performance, development and results of the Company include but are not limited
to: uncertainty of acceptance of genotyping in general, and of our products, in
particular in the clinical diagnostic market; desire of the FDA to take
enforcement action to restrict the use of home brew genotyping tests to provide
drug resistance reports and tests to physicians and other health care providers;
refusal of insurance companies and other third party payors to reimburse us for
our products; problems that we may face in bringing our hepatitis C genotyping
kit to market; problems that we may face in manufacturing, marketing and
distributing our products; delays which may occur in making our Atlanta
manufacturing facility fully operational; problems we may face with future
clinical trials; delays in obtaining approval by the FDA for changes made to FDA
approved products; delays in obtaining or our inability to obtain FDA approval
for certain of our future products; delays in obtaining or inability to obtain
approval by certain foreign regulatory authorities for our products; problems in
acquiring and protecting intellectual property important to our business through
patents, licenses and other arrangements; our abilities to successfully defend
claims that our products may infringe the intellectual property rights of
others; problems with important suppliers and business partners; delays in
developing new products and enhanced versions of existing products; and the
timing of our future capital needs and/or inability to raise capital when
needed; and other issues detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC
filings, including its most recent annual report on Form 20-F. These forward
looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Visible Genetics disclaims
any intent or obligation to update these forward looking statements.

Exhibit 1 - Press Release dated January 28, 2002












                                   SIGNATURES

    Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.





                                            VISIBLE GENETICS INC.


Date: January 28, 2002                      By: /s/ THOMAS J. CLARKE
                                                --------------------
                                                Name: Thomas J. Clarke
                                                Title: Chief Financial Officer

EX-1

                     [LETTERHEAD FOR VISIBLE GENETICS INC.]
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                              FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



CONTACTS:

                                    
Richard Daly (416) 813-3281            Bruno Maruzzo  (416) 813-3271
CEO, Visible Genetics Inc.             Investor Relations, Visible Genetics Inc.


           VISIBLE GENETICS REGISTRATION STATEMENT DECLARED EFFECTIVE

TORONTO, CANADA (JANUARY 28, 2002): On December 24, 2001, VISIBLE GENETICS INC.
(VGI, NASDAQ: VGIN) reported that it had completed a private placement of common
shares to US institutional investors for total proceeds of US $22.0 million. A
condition of the transaction was that Visible Genetics would file a registration
statement within forty five (45) days from December 24, 2001 with the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registering those shares. The
registration statement was filed on January 16, 2002 and was declared effective
by the SEC on January 25, 2002.

On January 25, 2002, the Company filed a second selling shareholders
registration statement with the SEC covering a total of 542,420 additional
common shares. This includes 73,338 additional common shares which will become
issuable upon future conversion of outstanding Series A Convertible Preferred
Shares and 5,322 additional common shares which will become issuable upon
exercise of certain outstanding warrants. These additional shares will become
issuable because the Company issued common shares in the recently completed
private placement at a purchase price ($8.34) lower than the original conversion
price of the preferred stock ($11.00) and the original exercise price of the
warrants ($12.60). The second registration statement also includes 463,760
additional common shares which represent a portion of the common shares which
will accrue as dividends under the outstanding Series A Convertible Preferred
Stock from July 15, 2003 until the end of the Series A term on July 15, 2008.
During this period, dividends accrue at the rate of 4% per year. These shares
are not being registered as a result of the private placement and will be
issuable only as dividends accrue and if the holders convert their Series A
Convertible Preferred Shares. A previous registration statement covered accrued
dividends through July 14, 2003, plus the remaining portion of shares which will
accrue as dividends through 2008.

Also, in order to streamline the Company's prospectus delivery and disclosure
update requirements, the second registration statement includes a consolidated
prospectus covering 5,059,015 common shares which were previously issued and
registered by the Company under a number of different registration statements
filed between November 1998 and June 2000. As permitted by Section 429 of the
Securities Act, the Company has elected to combine these shares into one
prospectus. The additional 5,059,015 shares included in this registration
statement have previously been issued and do not represent newly issued shares.

The registration statement filed January 25, 2002, with the SEC has not yet
become effective. The securities covered by this registration statement may not
be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior



to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release
shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor
shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer,
solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification
under the securities laws of such state.

ABOUT THE COMPANY
Visible Genetics Inc. is an international leader in the emerging field of
pharmacogenomics, which uses genetic information in the identification and
analysis of genes to improve patient care and reduce healthcare costs. VGI
develops, manufactures and markets high performance automated DNA sequencing
systems and complete kits for the analysis of genes linked to disease. The
Company's OpenGene system employs patented CLIP technology - a single-step,
bi-directional sequencing method that significantly reduces the time and cost
involved in identifying clinically relevant genetic information. Visible
Genetics' TRUGENE(TM) HIV-1 Genotyping Test and OpenGene(TM) DNA Sequencing
System were cleared for marketing in September 2001 by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA).

Visible Genetics has its corporate headquarters in Toronto, Canada; its main
production facility in Atlanta, USA; its European headquarters in High Wycombe,
UK, its research base in Cambridge, UK, operating companies in France, Spain,
Italy, Germany, Portugal and Israel, and is represented in additional countries
around the world. The company employs approximately 350 people worldwide.

The financial guidelines provided in this Press Release are forward looking
statements within the meaning of the "Safe Harbor Provisions" of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These guidelines are based on Visible
Genetics' current expectations. A variety of factors could cause actual results
to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations
expressed in these forward looking statements. The risks and uncertainties that
may affect the operations, performance, development and results of Visible
Genetics' include but are not limited to: uncertainty of acceptance of
genotyping in general, and of our products, in particular in the clinical
diagnostic market; desire of the FDA to take enforcement action to restrict the
use of home brew genotyping tests to provide drug resistance reports and tests
to physicians and other health care providers; refusal of insurance companies
and other third party payors to reimburse us for our products; problems that we
may face in bringing our hepatitis C genotyping kit to market; problems that we
may face in manufacturing, marketing and distributing our products; delays which
may occur in making our Atlanta manufacturing facility fully operational;
problems we may face with future clinical trials; delays in obtaining approval
by the FDA for changes made to FDA approved products; delays in obtaining or our
inability to obtain FDA approval for certain of our future products; delays in
obtaining or inability to obtain approval by certain foreign regulatory
authorities for our products; problems in acquiring and protecting intellectual
property important to our business through patents, licenses and other
arrangements; our abilities to successfully defend claims that our products may
infringe the intellectual property rights of others; problems with important
suppliers and business partners; delays in developing new products and enhanced
versions of existing products; and the timing of our future capital needs and/or
inability to raise capital when needed; and other issues detailed from time to
time in the Company's SEC filings, including its most recent annual report on
Form 20-F. These forward looking statements speak only as of the date hereof.
VGI disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward looking
statements.

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