8-K

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                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                    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):
                                December 2, 2003

                               TRANSGENOMIC, INC.
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

               Delaware                                         000-30975
         (State of Formation)                           (Commission File Number)

                                    911789357
                      (IRS Employer Identification Number)

          12325 Emmet Street
              Omaha, NE                                          68164
(Address of principal executive offices)                       (Zip Code)

                                 (402) 452-5400
              (Registrants' telephone number, including area code)

                                 Not applicable
          (Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

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Item 5. Other Events and Regulation FD Disclosure.

      On December 2, 2003, the Company issued a press release announcing that it
has entered into several specific agreements with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.
to provide mutation discovery services in the context of translational research
programs in oncology. A copy of the press release is filed herewith as Exhibit
99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(c) Exhibits

99.1  Press Release, dated December 2, 2003, announcing that the Company has
      entered into several specific agreements with Novartis Pharmaceuticals
      Corp. to provide mutation discovery services in the context of
      translational research programs in oncology.


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                                    SIGNATURE

      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 hereunto duly authorized.

                                   TRANSGENOMIC, INC.

                                   By /s/ Michael J. Draper
                                      ------------------------------------------
                                      Michael J. Draper, Chief Financial Officer

December 2, 2003


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EX-99.1

                                                                    Exhibit 99.1

            Transgenomic Announces Discovery Services Agreement With
                         Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.

 WAVE(R) Technology to Support Clinical Development of Oncology Therapeutics

    OMAHA, Neb., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Transgenomic Inc.
(Nasdaq: TBIO) announced today that it has entered into several specific
agreements with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. to provide mutation discovery
services in the context of translational research programs in oncology. The
fundamental goal of the work is to support biomarker discovery efforts in the
context of clinical trials by identifying genetic mutations that correlate
with patients' response(s) to cancer therapeutics. Transgenomic has performed
proof-of-principle work and the companies have established and subsequently
extended a Master Services Agreement governing general aspects of future
projects. Several specific project agreements have been signed, including a
clinical assay/protocol development project. Transgenomic has already begun to
deliver data from these projects and the assay/protocol development project
has been significantly expanded since its inception.
    "We are pleased to contribute to Novartis Oncology's translational
research efforts," said Collin D'Silva, Transgenomic's CEO. "We believe these
efforts will significantly advance the concept and practice of targeted
therapeutic intervention in oncology, an area where Novartis is already a
leader." D'Silva added, "Since the launch of our original instrument in 1997,
our WAVE Systems have provided an accurate and cost-effective solution when
the ability to scan for all possible mutations is critical. In addition, our
WAVE technology offers the high level of analytical sensitivity required for
detection of low-abundance genetic variations. This is particularly valuable
for detection of somatic mutations associated with cancer development,
progression, or the emergence of drug resistance."
    "Novartis Oncology is dedicated to incorporating knowledge of genomic
changes associated with cancer into the drug development process," said
Kenneth W. Culver, M.D., global head, Translational Medicine, Novartis
Oncology. "Transgenomic's WAVE technology possesses the sensitivity to detect
low-abundance mutations in clinical specimens, and its scanning capability
allows us to scan for mutations rather than develop specific assays for each
potential mutation. Our service agreement with Transgenomic offers us access
to their technology and their in-house expertise in mutation detection and
genetic variation analysis."
    Data resulting from work performed under Novartis' Master Services
Agreement with Transgenomic was recently presented at the Third International
Symposium on Circulating Nucleic Acids in Plasma and Serum held Nov. 9-12 in
Santa Monica, Calif.

    About Transgenomic
    Transgenomic provides versatile and innovative research tools and related
consumable products to the life sciences industry for the synthesis,
separation, analysis and purification of nucleic acids and a wide variety of
nucleic acid-based specialty chemicals. Transgenomic's BioSystems segment
offers its WAVE Systems and associated consumables. These systems are
specifically designed for use in genetic variation detection and single- and
double-strand DNA/RNA analysis and purification. These systems have broad
applicability to genetic research and molecular diagnostics. To date there
have been approximately one thousand systems installed in over 30 countries
around the world.
    Through its nucleic acids business segment, Transgenomic provides
specialty chemicals, including advanced nucleic acid building blocks and
associated reagents, used in applications such as genetic diagnostics and
therapeutics. Manufacturing operations include a cGMP facility for the
synthesis of oligonucleotides.
    For more information about the innovative genomics research tools
developed and marketed by Transgenomic, please visit the company's Web site at
www.transgenomic.com .

    Forward-Looking Statement
    Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking
statements" of Transgenomic within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to be
materially different from any future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements include,
but are not limited to, those with respect to the contribution the company's
technology can make toward translational research and the effects
translational research can have on significantly advancing the concept and
practice of targeted therapeutic intervention in oncology. The known risks,
uncertainties and other factors affecting these forward-looking statements are
described from time to time in Transgenomic's reports to the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Any change in such factors, risks and uncertainties may
cause the actual results, events and performance to differ materially from
those referred to in such statements. Accordingly, the company claims the
protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to all
statements contained in this press release. All information in this press
release is as of the date of the release and Transgenomic does not undertake
any duty to update this information, including any forward-looking statements,
unless required by law.

HTML1DocumentEncodingutf-8SOURCE Transgenomic Inc.
- -0- 12/02/2003
/CONTACT: Mitchell L. Murphy, +1-402-452-5437, or
mmurphy@transgenomic.com, or Robert J. Pogulis, Ph.D., +1-845-782-9617, or
rpogulis@transgenomic.com , both of Transgenomic, Inc. /
/Web site: http://www.transgenomic.com /
(TBIO)

CO: Transgenomic Inc.; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.
ST: Nebraska
IN: BIO HEA MTC
SU: CON LIC