Recent Accounting Pronouncements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Recent Accounting Pronouncements [Abstract]

Schedule of New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2011-05, “Presentation of Comprehensive Income”, which improves the comparability, consistency, and transparency of financial reporting and increases the prominence of items reported in other comprehensive income ("OCI") by eliminating the option to present components of OCI as part of the statement of stockholders' equity. The amendments in this standard require that all non-owner changes in stockholders' equity be presented either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. Under either method, adjustments must be displayed for items that are reclassified from OCI to net income, in both net income and OCI. The standard does not change the current option for presenting components of OCI gross or net of the effect of income taxes, provided that such tax effects are presented in the statement in which OCI is presented or disclosed in the notes to the financial statements. Additionally, the standard does not affect the calculation or reporting of earnings per share. This pronouncement should be applied retrospectively for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011, with early adoption permitted. Lexicon adopted this pronouncement in 2012 and there was no material impact to its consolidated results of operations and financial condition.

In July 2012, the FASB issued ASU No. 2012-02, "Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment", which amends FASB ASC Topic 350. ASU 2012-02 gives companies the option to perform a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that an indefinite-lived intangible asset is impaired. If the qualitative assessment supports the conclusion that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the asset exceeds its carrying amount, the entity would not need to perform the two-step quantitative impairment test. ASU 2012-02 is effective for annual and interim impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after September 15, 2012, with early adoption permitted. Management does not expect the adoption of this standard to have a material impact on Lexicon's consolidated financial statements.