6. Fair Value Measurements

The Company records its financial assets and liabilities at fair value. The carrying amounts of certain of the Company’s financial instruments, including cash equivalents, trade receivable and accounts payable, approximate their fair value due to their short maturities. Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received from selling an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The accounting guidance for fair value establishes a framework for measuring fair value and a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used in valuation techniques. The accounting standard describes a fair value hierarchy based on three levels of inputs, of which the first two are considered observable and the last unobservable, that may be used to measure fair value which are the following:

Level 1 – Observable inputs, such as quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 – Observable inputs, either directly or indirectly, other than quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities, that are not active or other inputs that are not observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.

Level 3 – Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities; therefore, requiring an entity to develop its own valuation techniques and assumptions.

The following tables set forth the Company’s fair value hierarchy for its financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis as follows (in thousands):

During the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, there were no transfers between Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3 assets reported at fair value on a recurring basis and the valuation techniques used did not change compared to the Company’s established practice.

The following table provides a summary of changes in the estimated fair value of the Company’s Level 3 financial assets for the year ended December 31, 2018 (in thousands):

The equity securities consisted of an investment in Rezolute’s common stock and are classified as long-term assets on the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018. The long-term equity securities are revalued each reporting period with changes in fair value recorded in other income, net line item of the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive (loss) income. The Company and its valuation specialist used a probability-weighted expected return model to measure the fair value of the securities. This valuation methodology is based on unobservable estimates and judgements, and therefore is classified as a Level 3 fair value measurement. Scenarios and probabilities were based on the Company’s management estimates and were incorporated into the determination of the fair value of the equity securities.  

The estimated fair value of the equity securities was calculated based on the following assumptions as of December 31, 2018 and the contract inception date of April 3, 2018:

Changes in any of the assumptions related to the unobservable inputs identified above may change the fair value of the long-term equity securities.

The estimated fair value of the Company’s outstanding long-term debt is estimated using the net present value of the payments, discounted at an interest rate that is consistent with market interest rates, which is a Level 2 input. The carrying amount and the estimated fair value of the Company’s outstanding long-term debt at December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, are as follows (in thousands):