Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements of Quidel Corporation and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation (consisting of normal recurring accruals) have been included.

The information at June 30, 2015, and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014, is unaudited. For further information, refer to the Company’s consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2014 included in the Company’s 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Operating results for any quarter are historically seasonal in nature and are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full year.

For 2015 and 2014, the Company’s fiscal year will end or has ended on January 3, 2016 and December 28, 2014, respectively. For 2015 and 2014, the Company’s second quarter ended on June 28, 2015 and June 29, 2014, respectively. For ease of reference, the calendar quarter end dates are used herein. The three and six month periods ended June 30, 2015 and 2014 each included 13 and 26 weeks, respectively.

Change in Accounting Principle

The Company historically presented deferred debt issuance costs, or fees related to directly issuing debt, as assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. During the first quarter of 2015, the Company adopted guidance codified in ASU 2015-03, Interest - Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30), Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs. The guidance simplifies the presentation of debt issuance costs by requiring debt issuance costs to be presented as a deduction from the corresponding liability, consistent with debt discounts. The recognition and measurement guidance for debt issuance costs is not affected. Therefore, these costs will continue to be amortized as interest expense using the effective interest method pursuant to ASC 835-30-35-2 through 35-3. The Company elected to early adopt the requirements of ASU 2015-03 effective the first quarter ended March 31, 2015 and applied this guidance retrospectively to all prior periods presented in the Company's financial statements.

The reclassification does not impact net income (loss) as previously reported or any prior amounts reported on the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) or the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. The following table presents the effect of the retrospective application of this change in accounting principle on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2014:



Consolidated Balance Sheets (in thousands)	As Reported December 31, 2014		Effect of Change in Accounting Principle			After change in Accounting Principle
ASSETS
Current assets:
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	$	3,554	$	(640	)	$	2,914
Total current assets	275,121		(640		)	274,481
Other non-current assets	4,565		(3,499		)	1,066
Total assets	451,550		(4,139		)	447,411

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Long-term debt	142,097		(4,139		)	137,958
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	451,550		(4,139		)	447,411

Comprehensive Loss

Comprehensive loss includes foreign currency translation adjustments excluded from the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements requires the Company to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an on-going basis, management evaluates its estimates, including those related to revenue recognition, customer programs and incentives, bad debts, inventories, intangible assets, software development costs, stock-based compensation, restructuring, contingencies and litigation, contingent consideration, the fair value of the debt component of convertible debt instruments, and income taxes. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that it believes are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

Revenue Recognition

The Company records revenues primarily from product sales. These revenues are recorded net of rebates and other discounts that are estimated at the time of sale, and are largely driven by various customer program offerings, including special pricing agreements, promotions and other volume-based incentives. Revenue from product sales are recorded upon passage of title and risk of loss to the customer. Passage of title to the product and recognition of revenue occurs upon delivery to the customer when sales terms are free on board (“FOB”) destination and at the time of shipment when the sales terms are FOB shipping point and there is no right of return.

A portion of product sales includes revenues for diagnostic kits, which are utilized on leased instrument systems under the Company’s “reagent rental” program. The reagent rental program provides customers the right to use the instruments at no separate cost to the customer in consideration for a multi-year agreement to purchase annual minimum amounts of consumables (“reagents” or “diagnostic kits”). When an instrument is placed with a customer under a reagent rental agreement, the Company retains title to the equipment and it remains capitalized on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets as property and equipment. The instrument is depreciated on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the lease term or the life of the instrument. Depreciation expense is recorded in cost of sales included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The reagent rental agreements represent one unit of accounting as the instrument and consumables (reagents) are interdependent in producing a diagnostic result and neither has a stand-alone value with respect to these agreements. No revenue is recognized at the time of instrument placement. All revenue is recognized when the title and risk of loss for the diagnostic kits have passed to the customer.

Royalty income from the grant of license rights is recognized during the period in which the revenue is earned and the amount is determinable from the licensee. The Company also earns income from the licensing of technology.

The Company earns income from grants for research and commercialization activities. On November 6, 2012, the Company was awarded a milestone-based grant totaling up to $8.3 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop, manufacture and validate a quantitative, low-cost, nucleic acid assay for HIV drug treatment monitoring on the integrated Savanna MDx platform for use in limited resource settings. Upon execution of the grant agreement, the Company received $2.6 million to fund subsequent research and development activities and received milestone payments totaling $2.5 million in 2013. On September 10, 2014, the Company entered into an amended grant agreement with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for additional funding of up to $12.6 million with the intent to accelerate the development of the Savanna MDx platform in the developing world. Upon execution of the amended grant agreement, the Company received $10.6 million in cash. The Company received a payment of $2.4 million in April 2015 and expects to receive the remaining milestone payment of up to $2.8 million in 2016. Under the original and amended grant agreements, the Company recognizes grant revenue on the basis of the lesser of the amount recognized on a proportional performance basis or the amount of cash payments that are non-refundable as of the end of each reporting period. The Company recognized $1.2 million and $0.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014, respectively, and recognized $2.4 million and $1.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014, respectively, as grant revenue associated with this grant. Cash payments received are restricted as to use until expenditures contemplated in the grant are incurred or committed. Therefore, the Company classified $4.9 million and $3.1 million of funds received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as restricted cash as of June 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively. In addition, the Company has classified $6.3 million as deferred grant revenue as of June 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014.

Fair Value Measurements

The Company uses the fair value hierarchy established in ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, which requires the valuation of assets and liabilities subject to fair value measurements using a three tiered approach and fair value measurement be classified and disclosed by the Company in one of the following three categories:

Level 1: Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted 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 that are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability;

Level 3: Prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable (i.e., supported by little or no market activity).

The carrying amounts of the Company’s financial instruments, including cash, receivables, accounts payable, and accrued liabilities approximate their fair values due to their short-term nature. Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of trade accounts receivable. The Company establishes reserves for estimated uncollectible accounts and believes its reserves are adequate.

Collaborative Arrangement

In July 2012, the Company entered into a collaborative arrangement with Life Technologies Corporation to develop molecular assays. ASC Topic 808, Collaborative Arrangements (“ASC 808”), defines a collaborative arrangement as an arrangement in which the parties are active participants and have exposure to significant risks. The Company accounted for the joint development and commercialization activities with the third party as a joint risk-sharing collaboration in accordance with ASC 808. The Company recognized $0.4 million of such reimbursements as a reduction to research and development expense for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014. The development efforts were completed in 2014, therefore, the Company recognized no reduction to research and development expense for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015 relating to this collaborative arrangement.

In connection with the collaboration agreement, the Company also entered into a manufacturing and supply agreement with the same third party. As part of that agreement, the Company manufactures and sells assays to the third party. In March 2013, the Company also entered into a six-year instrument supply agreement with Life Technologies Corporation. Pursuant to the agreement, the Company paid $0.8 million for distribution rights to sell Life Technologies Corporation’s QuantStudio™ DX diagnostic laboratory instrument for use in the infectious disease field, along with the assays developed under the collaborative agreement. The distribution rights are included in intangible assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets and are being amortized on a straight-line basis over the contractual term of six years.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued guidance codified in Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which amends the guidance in former ASC 605, Revenue Recognition. This guidance is intended to improve and converge with international standards relating to the financial reporting requirements for revenue from contracts with customers. The standard’s core principle is that a company will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In doing so, companies will need to use more judgment and make more estimates than under current authoritative guidance. These may include identifying performance obligations in the contract, estimating the amount of variable consideration to include in the transaction price and allocating the transaction price to each separate performance obligation. The original guidance was effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016. However, in July 2015, the FASB decided to defer by one year the effective dates of the new revenue recognition standard for entities reporting under GAAP. As a result, the standard would be effective for public entities for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods therein. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this guidance and expects to adopt the standard in the first quarter of 2018.

In August 2014, the FASB issued guidance codified in ASU 2014-15 (Subtopic 205-40), Presentation of Financial Statements - Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern. The guidance requires management to evaluate whether there are conditions and events that raise substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the financial statements are issued (or available to be issued when applicable). Management will be required to make this evaluation for both annual and interim reporting periods and will make certain disclosures if it concludes that substantial doubt exists or when its plans alleviate substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. Substantial doubt exists when relevant conditions and events, considered in the aggregate, indicate that it is probable that the entity will be unable to meet its obligations as they become due within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued (or available to be issued). The term probable is used consistently with its use in ASC Topic 450, Contingencies. The guidance is effective for annual periods ending after December 15, 2016 and for interim reporting periods starting in the first quarter 2017, with early adoption permitted. The Company expects to adopt ASU 2014-15 for the annual reporting period ended December 31, 2016, which is not expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In February 2015, the FASB issued guidance codified in ASU 2015-02 (Topic 810), Consolidation - Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis. The guidance affects reporting entities that are required to evaluate whether they should consolidate certain legal entities. Specifically, the guidance amends (i) the identification of variable interests (fees paid to a decision maker or service provider), (ii) the Variable Interest Entity (VIE) characteristics for a limited partnership or similar entity and (iii) the primary beneficiary determination. The guidance is effective for annual periods ending after December 15, 2015 and for interim reporting periods starting in the first quarter 2016, with early adoption permitted. ASU 2015-02 is not expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In March 2015, the Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) reached final consensus on Issue 14-B: Disclosures for Investments in Certain Entities That Calculate Net Asset Value per Share (or Its Equivalent). The EITF affirmed its earlier decision to no longer require that a reporting entity that measures an investment using the net asset value (NAV) practical expedient categorize the investment in the fair value hierarchy. Instead, entities would be required to disclose the amount of such investments as a reconciling item between the balance sheet amounts and the amounts reported in the fair value hierarchy table. The EITF also affirmed its previous decision to narrow existing disclosure requirements to focus only on these investments. The final consensus would be applied retrospectively for annual periods ending after December 15, 2015 and for interim reporting periods starting in the first quarter 2016, with early adoption permitted. In April 2015, the FASB ratified the consensus and directed the staff to draft a final ASU for a vote by written ballot. The Company adopted the final consensus guidance in the first quarter of 2015 and it did not have an impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.