LTE: Town Should Back Trans Pacific Partnership

Dear Editor,

As a Virginian, the Trans Pacific Partnership is of particular interest to me and to our Commonwealth. With an annual economic input of $13.7 billion, the biopharmaceutical sector in Virginia is important to our economic stability and success. Virginia’s economy can be bolstered through increases in exporting in this sector. 

It is important to note that Virginia’s success in this industry comes as a result of the hard-work of the researchers and innovators in the biopharmaceutical sector. Negotiators must protect these researchers in order to ensure a future for the bioscience industry in Virginia and in the United States. This can be done through strong intellectual property protections like our current U.S. law — protecting innovations for 12 years.

Let’s bring more opportunity to Virginia for exportation in the bioscience sector by protecting our researchers and their hard-work. I hope that the Trans Pacific Partnership can be negotiated with the good of our economy and our researchers in mind.

Amanda Kadilak