Nature of Business and Basis of Preparation	6 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2014
Nature of Business and Basis of Preparation	Note 1. Nature of Business and Basis of Preparation Abiomed, Inc. (the “Company” or “Abiomed”), is a leading provider of mechanical circulatory support devices and offers a continuum of care to heart failure patients. The Company develops, manufactures and markets proprietary products that are designed to enable the heart to rest, heal and recover by improving blood flow and/or performing the pumping function of the heart. The Company’s products are used in the cardiac catheterization lab, or cath lab, by interventional cardiologists and in the heart surgery suite by heart surgeons for patients who are in need of hemodynamic support prophylactically or emergently before, during or after angioplasty or heart surgery procedures. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, for interim financial reporting and in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and note disclosures required by GAAP for complete financial statements. These statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 that has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements include all adjustments, which are of a normal recurring nature, necessary for a fair presentation of results for the interim periods presented. The results of operations for any interim period may not be indicative of results for the full fiscal year or any other subsequent period. There have been no changes in the Company’s significant accounting policies for the three and six months ended September 30, 2014 as compared to the significant accounting policies described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 that has been filed with the SEC, except for as noted below. *In-Process Research and Development* In-process research and development (“IPR&D”) assets are considered to be indefinite-lived until the completion or abandonment of the associated research and development projects. IPR&D represents the fair value assigned to technologies that the Company acquires, which at the time of acquisition have not reached technological feasibility and have no alternative future use. During the period the assets are considered indefinite-lived, they are tested for impairment on an annual basis, or more frequently if the Company becomes aware of any events occurring or changes in circumstances that indicate that the fair value of the IPR&D assets are less than their carrying amounts. If and when development is complete, which generally occurs when the Company has regulatory approval and is able to commercialize products associated with the IPR&D assets, these assets are then deemed definite-lived and are amortized based on their estimated useful lives at that point in time. If development is terminated or abandoned, the Company may have a full or partial impairment charge related to the IPR&D assets, calculated as the excess of carrying value of the IPR&D assets over fair value. *Contingent Consideration* As discussed in Note 3. “Acquisitions,” on July 1, 2014, the Company acquired all of the issued shares of ECP Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH, a German limited liability company, or ECP, for $13.0 million in cash, with additional potential payments up to a maximum of $15.0 million based on the achievement of certain technical, regulatory and commercial milestones. These milestone payments may be made, at the Company’s option, by a combination of cash or Abiomed common stock. Contingent consideration is recorded as a liability and measured at fair value using a discounted cash flow model utilizing significant unobservable inputs including the probability of achieving each of the potential milestones and an estimated discount rate commensurate with the risks of the expected cash flows attributable to the various milestones. The material factors that may impact the fair value of the contingent consideration, and therefore this liability, are the probabilities of achieving the related milestones and the discount rate. Significant increases or decreases in any of the probabilities of success or changes in expected timelines for achievement of any of these milestones would result in a significantly higher or lower fair value of these milestones, respectively, and commensurate changes to the associated liability. The fair value of the contingent consideration, and the associated liability at each reporting date, will be updated by reflecting the changes in fair value reflected in the Company’s statement of operations. *Recent Accounting Pronouncements* In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers to provide updated guidance on revenue recognition. ASU 2014-09 requires a company to 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 may need to use more judgment and make more estimates than under today’s 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. ASU 2014-09 is effective for the Company in the first quarter of fiscal 2017. Early adoption is not permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2014-09 on its consolidated financial statements.

Note 1. Nature of Business and Basis of Preparation

Abiomed, Inc. (the “Company” or “Abiomed”), is a leading provider of mechanical circulatory support devices and offers a continuum of care to heart failure patients. The Company develops, manufactures and markets proprietary products that are designed to enable the heart to rest, heal and recover by improving blood flow and/or performing the pumping function of the heart. The Company’s products are used in the cardiac catheterization lab, or cath lab, by interventional cardiologists and in the heart surgery suite by heart surgeons for patients who are in need of hemodynamic support prophylactically or emergently before, during or after angioplasty or heart surgery procedures.

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, for interim financial reporting and in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and note disclosures required by GAAP for complete financial statements. These statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 that has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC.

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements include all adjustments, which are of a normal recurring nature, necessary for a fair presentation of results for the interim periods presented. The results of operations for any interim period may not be indicative of results for the full fiscal year or any other subsequent period.

There have been no changes in the Company’s significant accounting policies for the three and six months ended September 30, 2014 as compared to the significant accounting policies described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 that has been filed with the SEC, except for as noted below.

In-Process Research and Development

In-process research and development (“IPR&D”) assets are considered to be indefinite-lived until the completion or abandonment of the associated research and development projects. IPR&D represents the fair value assigned to technologies that the Company acquires, which at the time of acquisition have not reached technological feasibility and have no alternative future use. During the period the assets are considered indefinite-lived, they are tested for impairment on an annual basis, or more frequently if the Company becomes aware of any events occurring or changes in circumstances that indicate that the fair value of the IPR&D assets are less than their carrying amounts. If and when development is complete, which generally occurs when the Company has regulatory approval and is able to commercialize products associated with the IPR&D assets, these assets are then deemed definite-lived and are amortized based on their estimated useful lives at that point in time. If development is terminated or abandoned, the Company may have a full or partial impairment charge related to the IPR&D assets, calculated as the excess of carrying value of the IPR&D assets over fair value.

Contingent Consideration

As discussed in Note 3. “Acquisitions,” on July 1, 2014, the Company acquired all of the issued shares of ECP Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH, a German limited liability company, or ECP, for $13.0 million in cash, with additional potential payments up to a maximum of $15.0 million based on the achievement of certain technical, regulatory and commercial milestones. These milestone payments may be made, at the Company’s option, by a combination of cash or Abiomed common stock.

Contingent consideration is recorded as a liability and measured at fair value using a discounted cash flow model utilizing significant unobservable inputs including the probability of achieving each of the potential milestones and an estimated discount rate commensurate with the risks of the expected cash flows attributable to the various milestones. The material factors that may impact the fair value of the contingent consideration, and therefore this liability, are the probabilities of achieving the related milestones and the discount rate. Significant increases or decreases in any of the probabilities of success or changes in expected timelines for achievement of any of these milestones would result in a significantly higher or lower fair value of these milestones, respectively, and commensurate changes to the associated liability. The fair value of the contingent consideration, and the associated liability at each reporting date, will be updated by reflecting the changes in fair value reflected in the Company’s statement of operations.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers to provide updated guidance on revenue recognition. ASU 2014-09 requires a company to 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 may need to use more judgment and make more estimates than under today’s 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. ASU 2014-09 is effective for the Company in the first quarter of fiscal 2017. Early adoption is not permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2014-09 on its consolidated financial statements.