Medicine chest or medicine cabinet is a colloquial phrase and

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a Literal and figurative language, figurative or non-literal meaning (linguistic), meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic speech, formulaic ...

used to describe an area with the highest concentration of medicine stockpile, production, or potential of sources for medicines. The phrase is used with the area to specify the scope, such as ''world's medicine chest'' or ''nation's medicine cabinet''.

Rainforests

In nature,

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

s are considered the ''world's medicine chest'' or ''world's largest pharmacy'' as 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from ingredients found in tropical rainforests. Additionally, more than 2,000 plants from the tropical rainforests have been identified as having anti-cancer properties with 70% of those are found only in rainforests. There are additional potential to this medicine chest. Currently, only less than 1% of all species in rainforests have been analysed for their medicinal value.

Pharmaceutical industry

Germany and Europe

pharmaceutical industry The pharmaceutical industry is a medical industry that discovers, develops, produces, and markets pharmaceutical goods such as medications and medical devices. Medications are then administered to (or self-administered by) patients for curing ...

, Germany was considered the ''world's medicine cabinet'' in late 20th century after German firms invented the pharmaceutical industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and recovered from the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During the 1970s, the major pharmaceutical companies were concentrated in France, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom with 55% of world's medicine production by major nation came from those countries. That gave the European pharmaceutical industry the ''world's medicine chest'' title until the 1990s. In 1990, the pharmaceutical companies in Europe outspent the upcoming American companies in research and development by 8 billion Euros to 5 billion Euros. However, in the period of 10 years, American companies had reversed the trend by investing more in research and development of medicines, which outspent European companies by 24 billion Euros to 17 billion Euros in 2000. As a result, some major companies started to relocate operation, research and other divisions including headquarters to the United States.

New Jersey

In the 1950s,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

had been leading pharmaceutical industry in the United States, and it was given a nickname of ''Medicine Chest of the Nation'' at that time. As the industry expanded in the 21st century, New Jersey has become the state with more pharmaceutical companies than any other

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

, and known to be the ''world's medicine chest''. In 2006, three of top ten pharmaceutical companies in the world were headquartered in

. In 2011, New Jersey was home to world or North American headquarters for 17 of the 20 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. The state was ranked 6th in the nation in

biotech Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists in the field are kn ...

, 3rd in bioscience

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

investments and 4th in the number of bioscience

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

s. The growth of biotechnology companies in the state between 2008 and 2011 were increased more than 50% to have more than 300 biotech companies. As of 2012, two of the top ten companies are based in New Jersey after

Wyeth Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. was a pharmaceutical company until it was purchased by Pfizer in 2009. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as John Wyeth and Brother. Its headquarters moved to Collegeville, Pennsylvania, a ...

was acquired by

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

-based firm,

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

in 2009.

Stockpiling

emergency management Emergency management (also Disaster management) is a science and a system charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actu ...

, when government entities stockpile essential medicines to be used in case of major emergencies, it can be said to be restocking the ''nation's emergency medicine chest''. An example of such stockpiles is the Strategic National Stockpile in the United States.

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