Collaborative Arrangements (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended					3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014		Jun. 30, 2013		Jun. 30, 2014		Jun. 30, 2013		Jun. 30, 2014 Common Stock Theravance Biopharma	Jun. 30, 2014 GSK	Jun. 30, 2013 GSK	Jun. 30, 2014 GSK	Jun. 30, 2013 GSK	Jun. 30, 2014 GSK MABA	Jun. 30, 2014 Long-acting beta agonist (LABA) collaboration GSK	Jun. 30, 2013 Long-acting beta agonist (LABA) collaboration GSK	Jun. 30, 2014 Long-acting beta agonist (LABA) collaboration GSK Item	Jun. 30, 2013 Long-acting beta agonist (LABA) collaboration GSK	Jul. 31, 2014 Long-acting beta agonist (LABA) collaboration GSK Subsequent event	Jun. 30, 2014 Long-acting beta agonist (LABA) collaboration GSK Minimum	Jun. 30, 2014 Long-acting beta agonist (LABA) collaboration GSK Maximum	Oct. 31, 2011 2004 Strategic alliance GSK MABA Item	Jun. 30, 2014 2004 Strategic alliance GSK MABA	Jun. 30, 2013 2004 Strategic alliance GSK MABA	Jun. 30, 2014 2004 Strategic alliance GSK MABA Item	Jun. 30, 2013 2004 Strategic alliance GSK MABA	Jun. 30, 2014 2004 Strategic alliance GSK MABA containing '081 Maximum	Jun. 30, 2014 2004 Strategic alliance GSK MABA containing '081 - single-agent	Jun. 30, 2014 2004 Strategic alliance GSK MABA containing '081 - single-agent Minimum	Jun. 30, 2014 2004 Strategic alliance GSK MABA containing '081 - single-agent Maximum	Jun. 30, 2014 2004 Strategic alliance GSK MABA containing '081 - combination product	Jun. 30, 2014 2004 Strategic alliance GSK MABA containing additional MABA Maximum	Jun. 30, 2014 2004 Strategic alliance GSK MABA containing additional MABA - single-agent	Jun. 30, 2014 2004 Strategic alliance GSK MABA containing additional MABA - single-agent Minimum	Jun. 30, 2014 2004 Strategic alliance GSK MABA containing additional MABA - single-agent Maximum	Jun. 30, 2014 Governance agreement GSK Common Stock
Information related to collaborative arrangements
Royalty revenue										$ 3,261,000	$ 0	$ 3,991,000	$ 0
Amortization of intangible assets	(2,598,000)		0		(4,378,000)		0			(2,598,000)	0	(4,378,000)	0
Net royalty revenue	663,000	[1]	0	[1]	(387,000)	[1]	0	[1]		663,000	0	(387,000)	0
Total revenue	271,000		1,322,000		541,000		2,644,000			934,000	1,322,000	154,000	2,644,000		0	907,000	0	1,814,000					271,000	415,000	541,000	830,000
Obligation for milestone payments															220,000,000		220,000,000
Number of combination products																	2
Milestone fees paid																	185,000,000
Amount of liability accrued for milestone fees															15,000,000		15,000,000
Milestone fees owed																			10,000,000
Portion of potential milestone payments that could become payable by the end of 2014															10,000,000		10,000,000
Royalty rate for first level of annual global net sales (as a percent)																	15.00%												10.00%	20.00%				10.00%	15.00%
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 the Company is obligated to use diligent efforts to discover after license of a program																									1
Number of preclinical MABA compounds discovered																						6
Royalty rate for sales above first level of annual global net sales (as a percent)																	5.00%											7.50%					10.00%
Royalty rate for combination products (as a percent)																				6.50%	10.00%
Royalty rate for combination products as a percentage of the rate applied to single products																															70.00%		50.00%
Potential contingent payments that the Company could receive																														125,000,000
Potential contingent payments that the Company could receive in respect to single-agent and combination medicines																											250,000,000
Potential future contingent payments receivable														363,000,000																		129,000,000
Number of ordinary shares owned as available-for-sale securities									436,802
Company's stock purchased by related party (in shares)																																				659,999
Company's stock purchased by related party																																				$ 21,400,000

[1] Gross royalty revenue from a related party for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014 is $3,261 and $3,991, respectively.