Medicine chest or medicine cabinet is a colloquial phrase and

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language, ...

used to describe an area with the highest concentration of medicine stockpile,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, 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 rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

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 discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate symptoms. ...

, 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. 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 state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

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 sover ...

, 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 the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

, 3rd in bioscience

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

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 enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

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, LLC was an American pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as ''John Wyeth and Brother''. It was later known, in the early 1930s, as American Home Products, before being renamed to Wyeth in ...

was acquired by

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

-based firm,

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

in 2009.

Stockpiling

emergency management Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...

, 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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