8-K

                                    FORM 8-K

                                 CURRENT REPORT
     PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported)  September 27, 2002
                                                 -------------------------------
                                                  TRIANGLE PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
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             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

          DELAWARE                      000-21589           56-1930728
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  (State or other jurisdiction        (Commission         (IRS Employer
      of incorporation)               File Number)      Identification No.)

   University Place, 4611 University Drive, Durham, North Carolina     27707
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    (Address of principal executive offices)                         (Zip Code)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code  (919) 493-5980
                                                    ----------------------------

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          (Former name or former address, if changed since last report)






Item 5.  Other Events

     On September 27, 2002, Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. issued a press
release, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1, and is incorporated
herein by reference.


Item 7.  Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(c)      Exhibits.   The following document is incorporated by reference to
                     this Report:

         99.1        Press release dated September 27, 2002.




                                   SIGNATURES

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



                                              Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
                                       -----------------------------------------
                                                      (Registrant)

         October 2, 2002                       /s/ Robert F. Amundsen, Jr.
- -------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
              Date                                   (Signature)
                                       Name:  Robert F. Amundsen, Jr.
                                       Title: Executive Vice President
                                              and Chief Financial Officer

EX-99.1

                                                                  EXHIBIT 99.1
                                                               

CONTACT:

Mr. Daniel G. Welch                         Mr. Robert F. Amundsen, Jr.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer        Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc.              Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(919) 493-5980                              (919) 493-5980
www.tripharm.com                            www.tripharm.com





FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
- ----------------------

         Once-Daily Coviracil(r) Regimen Superior to Zerit(r) in FTC-301
                                 Clinical Trial

   Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Presents Coviracil Data at 42nd Interscience
           Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC)

SAN DIEGO, C.A., SEPTEMBER 27, 2002 -- Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:
VIRS) presented data at the Late Breaker Session at the 42nd Interscience
Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) which showed that
Coviracil (emtricitabine) was statistically superior to Zerit (stavudine) in all
primary and secondary endpoints for safety and efficacy in a Phase III trial
comparing the two products. Triangle submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) for
Coviracil for the treatment of HIV disease to the Food and Drug Administration
on September 3, 2002.

Results from the interim analysis of FTC-301, a Phase III trial for Coviracil,
Triangle's potent once-a-day nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI),
demonstrated that Coviracil, as part of a fully once-daily regimen, provided
improved antiviral activity and enhanced tolerability when compared to Zerit in
a standard of care, highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) regimen.
Michael Saag, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the AIDS Clinic at the
University of Alabama at Birmingham and Principal Investigator for FTC-301 in
the United States, presented the results of the trial.

Dr. Saag commented, "It is quite impressive that the fully once-a-day regimen of
Coviracil, Videx(R)EC, and Sustiva(R) showed clear superiority to a widely-used
regimen. The efficacy, tolerability and convenience of the Coviracil regimen
should make it an attractive treatment option for physicians and their
patients."

"The Coviracil regimen outperformed a highly effective standard of care,"
commented Franck Rousseau, MD, Executive Vice President of Research, Development
and Medical at Triangle. "Coviracil demonstrated significant improvement
compared to one of the most commonly prescribed products for HIV disease. This
trial also illustrated the potential of successfully treating patients with
fully once-a-day regimens. Upon approval, the potency and robust
pharmacokinetics of Coviracil should provide physicians with the option to
simplify HAART regimens for their patients."




FTC-301 DESIGN AND RESULTS
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FTC-301 is a 48-week, double-blind Phase III trial comparing once-a-day
Coviracil to Zerit given twice-daily, each combined within a background regimen
of once-daily Sustiva (efavirenz) and Videx EC (didanosine). As announced on
July 30, 2002, an independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), established
to provide oversight of the trial, reviewed a planned interim analysis of the
trial. In view of a compelling difference in favor of the Coviracil arm, the
DSMB recommended that the trial be unblinded and all patients be offered the
regimen containing Coviracil.

A total of 571 patients (85% male) were enrolled in the United States, Europe,
Mexico and South America. At entry into the trial, the median HIV RNA was 4.9
log10 copies/mL and the median CD4+ cell count was 288 cells/mm3.

The primary endpoint of the trial was the proportion of patients with HIV RNA
less than 50 copies/mL. Secondary endpoints included measures of Virologic
Failure (viral load > 400 copies/mL at week 12 or after), Efficacy Failure
(defined as Viral Failure, death, progression of disease or loss to follow-up)
and Tolerability Failure (defined as permanent discontinuation of the blinded
medication due to an adverse event.)

The Coviracil arm was statistically superior to the stavudine arm for all
primary and secondary endpoints for safety and efficacy. For measures of
efficacy at week 24, 81% of the patients in the Coviracil arm had undetectable
viral loads (< 50 copies/mL) compared to 70% in the stavudine arm (p=0.002).

At 52 weeks, Coviracil produced superior antiviral activity when compared to
Zerit as the probability of Virologic Failure was 14.1% for Zerit and 4.7% for
Coviracil (p Less than 0.001). Coviracil also produced a superior
immunologic response with a mean CD4+ increase of 152 cells/mm3 in the
Coviracil arm as compared to an increase of 117 cells/mm3 in the Zerit
arm (p=0.004). Lastly, Coviracil was also better tolerated than Zerit with
6.7% of Coviracil patients and 13.9% of Zerit patients experiencing treatment
limiting toxicities (p=0.03).

"We are pleased with the results of this important trial," said Daniel Welch,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Triangle. "As a potent once-daily agent,
we believe that, upon approval, Coviracil should provide physicians and patients
broader opportunities for effective and convenient regimens. To our knowledge,
this is the first well-controlled trial where one NRTI has been shown to be
superior to another NRTI as part of a triple-drug regimen."

Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in
the development of new antiviral drug candidates, with a particular focus on
therapies for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the hepatitis B virus.
Triangle's proprietary drug candidates under development for HIV and/or
hepatitis B include Coviracil(R) (emtricitabine), amdoxovir (formerly DAPD), and
clevudine (formerly L-




FMAU). Triangle is also developing immunotherapies for hepatitis B in
collaboration with Dynavax Technologies Corporation (Dynavax) utilizing Dynavax'
immunostimulatory sequence (ISS) technology. More information about Triangle's
portfolio, management and product development strategy is available on
Triangle's website.

STATEMENTS IN THIS PRESS RELEASE THAT ARE NOT HISTORICAL FACTS ARE
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND ARE SUBJECT TO NUMEROUS RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES,
INCLUDING THE RISK THAT OUR COVIRACIL NDA MAY NOT RECEIVE REGULATORY APPROVAL,
OR IF APPROVED, COVIRACIL MAY NOT ACHIEVE MARKET ACCEPTANCE OR THE MEDICAL
RESULTS WE EXPECT, OTHERS MAY DEVELOP COMPETITIVE PRODUCTS AND WE MAY BE UNABLE
TO COMMERCIALIZE OUR DRUG CANDIDATES SUCCESSFULLY. THESE AND OTHER RISKS ARE
DISCUSSED IN DETAIL FROM TIME TO TIME IN OUR FILINGS WITH THE SECURITIES AND
EXCHANGE COMMISSION. AS A RESULT OF THESE AND OTHER RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES,
ACTUAL RESULTS MAY DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE PREDICTED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE.
TRIANGLE DISCLAIMS ANY OBLIGATIONS TO UPDATE ANY FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS IN
THIS PRESS RELEASE.