Description of Business	9 Months Ended
Description of Business	Sep. 30, 2020
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Description of Business	Description of Business Organization and Nature of operations Lumos Pharma, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. References in this Quarterly Report to “us,” “we,” “our,” “the Company,” or “Lumos” are to Lumos Pharma, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. With our principal executive offices located in Austin, Texas and additional executive and administrative offices located in Ames, Iowa, we are engaged in advancing our clinical program and focused on identifying, acquiring, developing, and commercialization of novel products and new therapies for people with rare diseases on a global level, for which there is currently a significant unmet need for safe and effective therapies. Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (“NASDAQ”) and trades under the ticker symbol “LUMO.” The Company entered into a business combination (the “Merger”) between the Company, formerly known as NewLink Genetics Corporation (“NewLink”), Cyclone Merger Sub, Inc. (“Merger Sub”), a wholly owned subsidiary of NewLink, and Lumos Pharma, Inc., which has since been renamed “Lumos Pharma Sub, Inc.” (“Private Lumos”). The Merger closed on March 18, 2020, and Merger Sub merged with and into Private Lumos, with Private Lumos surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. Immediately prior to the closing of the Merger, the shares of NewLink common stock were adjusted with a reverse split ratio of 1‑for‑9. Under the terms of the Merger, Private Lumos stockholders received an aggregate of 4,146,398 shares of NewLink common stock (after giving effect to the reverse split) for each share of outstanding common stock, Series A Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock of Private Lumos converted at an exchange ratio of 0.1308319305, 0.0873621142 and 0.1996348626, respectively. Immediately following the reverse stock split and the completion of the Merger, there were 8,292,803 shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding, of which approximately 50% was held by each of Private Lumos and NewLink security holders. The Merger was accounted for as a reverse asset acquisition. Private Lumos was deemed to be the accounting acquirer for accounting purposes and NewLink the accounting acquiree. Accordingly, for accounting purposes: (i) the assets acquired and liabilities assumed were recorded based on their estimated fair values on the Merger date, (ii) the reported historical operating results of the combined company prior to the Merger will be those of Private Lumos and not of NewLink after retroactively giving effect to the common stock exchange ratio, reverse stock split and change in par value for all periods presented, and (iii) for periods prior to the transaction, shareholders’ authorized capital of the combined company is presented based on the historical authorized capital of NewLink. After the consummation of the Merger, the combined company has focused its efforts on the development of Private Lumos’ sole product candidate, secretagogue ibutamoren (“LUM-201”), a potential oral therapy for pediatric growth hormone deficiency (“PGHD”) and other rare endocrine disorders. Liquidity and Risks The Company has historically devoted substantially all of its efforts toward research and development and has never earned revenue from commercial sales of its products. Management expects to continue to incur additional substantial losses in the foreseeable future as a result of the Company’s research and development activities. However, the Company believes that its existing cash and cash equivalents of approximately $105.6 million as of September 30, 2020 will be sufficient to allow the Company to fund its operations through read out of the Phase 2b clinical trial for a subset of patients with PGHD indication under its LUM-201 product candidate and for at least 12 months from the filing date of this Quarterly Report. If available liquidity becomes insufficient to meet the Company’s obligations as they come due, our future operations will be reliant on additional equity or financing arrangements. There can be no assurances that, in the event that the Company requires additional financing, such financing will be available on terms which are favorable to the Company, or at all. If the Company is unable to raise additional funding to meet its working capital needs in the future, it will be forced to delay or reduce the scope of its research programs and/or limit or cease its operations. The pandemic caused by an outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”), has resulted, and is likely to continue to result, in significant national and global economic disruption and may adversely affect the Company’s operations. The Company is actively monitoring the potential impact of COVID-19, if any, on the carrying value of certain assets and its continued operations. To date, we have experienced limited delays related to clinical trials as clinical sites adapt their procedures to caring for patients during a pandemic, however, we have not incurred impairment of any assets as a result of COVID-19. The extent to which these events may impact the Company’s business, clinical development, regulatory efforts, and the value of its common stock, will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time. The duration and intensity of these impacts and resulting disruption to the Company’s operations is uncertain and the Company will continue to evaluate the impact that these events could have on the operations, financial position, and the results of operations and cash flows during fiscal year 2020.