HEALTH

Sues Over Rival Drug: The company alleges in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Delaware that an Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp. drug that stimulates production of red blood cells infringes a Genetics patent. In dispute is homogenous erythropoietin, known as EPO, which Genetics said has annual worldwide sales of $1 billion. Ortho, a unit of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson, sells an EPO drug called Procrit. Genetics said the patent in question was issued to the company Monday. Genetics is majority-owned by American Home Products Corp., based in Madison, N.J. Genetics, which said it discovered how to refine and purify EPO produced in animal cells, earns $20 million a year in royalties on EPO products made and sold in Europe and Japan. Procrit is made by Amgen Inc. and is sold by Ortho in the United States