The NEXT company in my ongoing series of the top 25 stocks for the NEXT 25 years is SurModics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRDX). This Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based company has a current market capitalization of $650 million with a revenue run rate of $75 million. The company is actively involved in many next-generation medical technologies.

SurModics' mission is to provide leading-edge surface modifications and advanced drug delivery technologies and products. The company is divided into three distinct divisions: drug delivery, hydrophillic and In-Vitro. The drug delivery segment offers various technologies to site-specific delivery of drugs. Within this segment is the burgeoning ophthalmology division, which helps deal with serious eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration. The hydrophillic segment has proprietary technologies for medical devices. It's a lubricious coating that allows for better placement and maneuverability of the actual devices. The In-Vitro division includes products for genomic slide technologies and stabilization products for immunoassay diagnostic testing.

SurModics sells its products to a whole host of medical device and life sciences companies. The hydrophillic business segment will normally have a very long term commitment with its medical device customer, as SurModic will specifically formulate the lubricant to compliment the device company's requirements to satisfy the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The same with the two other divisions as SurModics is usually involved early on in the development and FDA approval process.