Fair value measurements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

The Company records cash equivalents and marketable securities at fair value. ASC Topic 820 Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures established a fair value hierarchy for those instruments measured at fair value that distinguishes between assumptions based on market data (observable inputs) and the Company’s own assumptions (unobservable inputs). The hierarchy consists of three levels:

Level 1 – Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 – Quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, quoted prices in markets that are not active, or inputs which are observable, directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability.

Level 3 – Unobservable inputs that reflect the Company’s own assumptions about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability in which there is little, if any, market activity for the asset or liability at the measurement date.

The following table summarizes the cash equivalents and marketable securities measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015:



	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Balance as of December 31, 2016
Cash equivalents	$	11,681,074	$	—	$	—	$	11,681,074
Marketable securities:
Corporate debt securities	—		1,518,240		—		1,518,240
Commercial paper	—		6,081,202		—		6,081,202
U.S. government agency securities	—		31,059,491		—		31,059,491
	$	11,681,074	$	38,658,933	$	—	$	50,340,007



	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Balance as of December 31, 2015
Cash equivalents	$	58,575,348	$	1,410,322	$	—	$	59,985,670
Marketable securities:
Corporate debt securities	—		26,965,297		—		26,965,297
	$	58,575,348	$	28,375,619	$	—	$	86,950,967

Cash equivalents and marketable securities have been initially valued at the transaction price and subsequently valued, at the end of each reporting period, utilizing third-party pricing services or other market observable data. The pricing services utilize industry standard valuation models, including both income and market based approaches and observable market inputs to determine value. The majority of the Company's cash equivalents consist of money market funds that are valued based on publicly available quoted market prices for identical securities as of December 31, 2016. After completing its validation procedures, the Company did not adjust or override any fair value carrying amounts of as of December 31, 2016.

The carrying amounts reflected in the consolidated balance sheets for cash, accounts receivable, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities approximate their fair values at December 31, 2016 and 2015, due to their short-term nature.

The Company evaluates transfers between levels at the end of each reporting period. There were no transfers of assets or liabilities between Level 1 and Level 2 during the year ended December 31, 2016. The Company had no financial assets or liabilities that were classified as Level 3 at any point during the year ended December 31, 2016.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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