Collaboration Arrangements (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended							1 Months Ended					12 Months Ended								1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended												12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011 GSK	Dec. 31, 2010 GSK	Dec. 31, 2009 GSK	Dec. 31, 2011 Astellas	Nov. 30, 2011 Class A common stock GSK	Aug. 31, 2011 Class A common stock GSK	Jul. 31, 2011 Class A common stock GSK	May 31, 2011 Class A common stock GSK	Feb. 28, 2011 Class A common stock GSK	Dec. 31, 2011 Common Stock	Dec. 31, 2010 Common Stock	Dec. 31, 2002 Long-acting beta agonist (LABA) collaboration Preferred stock Series E Glaxo Group Limited, an affiliate of GSK	Dec. 31, 2011 Long-acting beta agonist (LABA) collaboration LAMA/LABA Maximum	Dec. 31, 2011 Long-acting beta agonist (LABA) collaboration LABA/RELOVAIR collaboration Y product	Dec. 31, 2010 Long-acting beta agonist (LABA) collaboration LABA/RELOVAIR collaboration	Dec. 31, 2009 Long-acting beta agonist (LABA) collaboration LABA/RELOVAIR collaboration	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK	Oct. 31, 2004 Strategic alliance with GSK Class A common stock GlaxoSmithKline LLC, an affiliate of GSK	May 31, 2004 Strategic alliance with GSK Class A common stock GlaxoSmithKline LLC, an affiliate of GSK	Nov. 30, 2010 Strategic alliance with GSK Common Stock Glaxo Group Limited, an affiliate of GSK	Dec. 31, 2009 Strategic alliance with GSK LAMA	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK LAMA	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA product	Dec. 31, 2010 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA	Dec. 31, 2009 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA	Aug. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA containing '081	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA containing '081	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA containing '081 - single agent	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA containing '081 - single agent Maximum	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA containing '081 - single agent Minimum	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA containing '081 - combination product	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA containing additional MABA product	Oct. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA containing additional MABA	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA containing additional MABA Maximum	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA containing additional MABA - single agent	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA containing additional MABA - single agent Maximum	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA containing additional MABA - single agent Minimum	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK MABA containing additional MABA - combination product	Dec. 31, 2011 Strategic alliance with GSK Non-license specific	Dec. 31, 2010 Strategic alliance with GSK Non-license specific	Dec. 31, 2009 Strategic alliance with GSK Non-license specific	Dec. 31, 2011 License, Development and Commercialization Agreement With Astellas	Dec. 31, 2011 License, Development and Commercialization Agreement With Astellas VIBATIV	Dec. 31, 2010 License, Development and Commercialization Agreement With Astellas VIBATIV	Dec. 31, 2009 License, Development and Commercialization Agreement With Astellas VIBATIV	Jan. 06, 2012 License, Development and Commercialization Agreement With Astellas VIBATIV Y	Dec. 31, 2011 License, Development and Commercialization Agreement With Astellas VIBATIV Astellas	Dec. 31, 2010 License, Development and Commercialization Agreement With Astellas VIBATIV Astellas
Information related to collaboration arrangements
Maximum obligation for milestone payments to GSK																	$ 220,000,000
Number of combination products																	2
If global regulatory authorities accept the applications for RELOVAIR, which the Company anticipates will be filed by GSK beginning in mid-2012, a portion of these potential milestone payments could be payable to GSK within the next two years.																	2
Royalty rate for first level of annual global net sales (as a percent)																	15.00%															20.00%	10.00%						15.00%	10.00%
Royalty rate for combination products as a percentage of the rate applied to single products																																		70.00%							50.00%
Royalty rate for sales above first level of annual global net sales (as a percent)																	5.00%														7.50%							10.00%
Percentage of royalties receivable																10.00%
Percentage of royalties payable to Astellas																																													2.00%	2.00%
Annual global sales level used to determine royalty rate																	3,000,000,000														3,500,000,000							3,500,000,000
Number of products which Company is obligated to use diligent efforts to discover after license of a program																																			6
Number of combination products to be developed and commercialized																										1
Potential upfront license and milestone payments that Company could receive																															125,000,000
Potential upfront license and milestone payments that Company could receive in respect of combination medicines																														250,000,000
Milestone payments receivable																																					129,000,000
Entity's common stock information
Common Stock Shares Purchased														8,625,000							433,757	6,387,096	5,750,000
Aggregate Amounts		93,478,000												86,000							6,900,000	108,900,000	129,400,000
Purchase price of shares issued															40,000,000
Issuance of common stock for cash in private placement to a related party (in shares)								58,411	102,466		261,299	152,278	574,000	5,750,000
Issuance of common stock for cash in private placement to a related party	13,618,000	129,190,000						1,298,000	2,020,000		6,689,000	3,609,000	5,000	58,000
Shares of Class A common stock converted into common stock										9,401,499
Number of shares of Class A stock convertible into one share of common stock										1
Number of shares of common stock into which one share of Class A stock can be converted										1
GSK Upfront License Fees, Milestone Payments and Revenue
Upfront License Fees																	10,000,000			41,000,000					5,000,000	6,000,000										1,000,000						20,000,000
Milestone Payments																	50,000,000			69,000,000					3,000,000	16,000,000
Total																	60,000,000			110,000,000					8,000,000	22,000,000																20,000,000
Milestone payment received																													3,000,000
Term of royalty payment (in years)																																																	10
License, Development and Commercialization Agreement with Astellas
Upfront license, milestone and other fees received							191,000,000
Net revenue recognized under the collaboration
Amortization of deferred revenue				9,658,000	9,826,000	15,073,000											4,718,000	5,081,000	5,081,000					4,240,000		3,082,000	2,007,000	3,014,000							936,000							1,858,000	2,738,000	2,738,000
Amortization of deferred revenue																																														12,975,000	12,975,000	11,338,000
Royalties from net sales of VIBATIV																																														2,422,000	1,123,000	766,000
Proceeds from VIBATIV delivered to Astellas	24,512,000	24,223,000	24,374,000																																											1,171,000	2,058,000			1,171,000	2,058,000
Cost of VIBATIV delivered to Astellas																																														(1,177,000)	(938,000)	(1,629,000)
Cost of unrealizable VIBATIV inventory																																														(537,000)	(821,000)	(1,175,000)
Total net revenue																																														$ 14,854,000	$ 14,397,000	$ 9,300,000