Biotechnology has become central to the Arizona economy.

Statewide employment in biotech increased by more than 20% from 2018 to 2021. Phoenix is the top city in the country for life-science job growth.

For evidence of our state’s booming biotech sector, look no further than the industry’s response to the pandemic. Arizona inventors filed at least 60 COVID-related patents.

PathogenDx, a Scottsdale company, developed EnviroX-RV to detect COVID-19 on surfaces. bioSyntagma — a biotech spinoff of Arizona State University — partnered with another firm to develop a method for large-scale automated COVID-19 testing.

Disturbingly, some World Trade Organization member nations want to undermine this economic vitality by waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 therapeutics and diagnostics. This could have devastating repercussions for the entire biotech sector.

Thankfully, the ill-advised plan wasn’t enacted at the WTO’s recent gathering in Abu Dhabi — but the threat of the waiver still looms.

Patents and other IP rights are protected worldwide thanks to a decades-old World Trade Organization agreement called TRIPS, short for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, which establishes minimum standards for........

© Arizona Republic