"The first quarter of 2002 represents the first complete quarter of TRUGENE HIV-1 Genotyping Test sales following FDA approval late last year. We are pleased by the increasing demand that we experienced for our products in the quarter, which ended with strong March sales," stated Richard T. Daly, President and CEO of Visible Genetics. "During March we shipped approximately 7,000 HIV genotyping tests. The strong sales in March highlight the growing acceptance of the Company's TRUGENE HIV genotyping system by our customers." VGI will release first quarter 2002 earnings on May 30, 2002 at 7:00 AM, followed by a conference call at 11:00 AM during which the Company will discuss first quarter 2002 financial results and provide an update on corporate activities.

About the Company

Visible Genetics Inc. is an international leader in the emerging field of pharmacogenomics, the science of individualizing therapy based on genetic differences, 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 Kit 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 ability 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. 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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