Overview and Basis of Presentation - Additional Information (Details)								3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 29, 2020 USD ($) shares	Sep. 10, 2020	Aug. 24, 2020 USD ($) shares	Aug. 04, 2020 USD ($)	Jul. 21, 2020 USD ($) shares	Jul. 13, 2020 USD ($) shares	Jul. 10, 2020 $ / shares shares	Sep. 30, 2020 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Sep. 30, 2020 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Aug. 20, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares shares
Overview and Basis of Presentation [Line Items]
Stockholders' equity, reverse stock split		one-for-nine reverse stock split
Stockholders' equity, reverse stock split, ratio		0.111111111
Accumulated deficit								$ (51,165,000)	$ (51,165,000)		$ (38,185,000)
Common stock, par value | $ / shares							$ 0.01	$ 0.01	$ 0.01		$ 0.01
Common stock, shares authorized | shares							150,000,000	150,000,000	150,000,000		1,070,000
Extinguishment of debt						$ 32,600,000
Impact from recapitalization transactions						69,879,000		$ 69,879,000
Gain on extinguishment								$ 2,691,000
Additional capital contribution, shares | shares	8,703				740,740
Capital contribution, cash	$ 97,000				$ 8,000,000				$ 20,666,000
Financial Support, Capital Contributions
Overview and Basis of Presentation [Line Items]
Additional capital contribution, shares | shares			746,767
Capital contribution, cash			$ 29,000,000
Issuance of common stock			8,334,000
Stock issued during period, remaining cash contribution amount			$ 20,666,000
Financial Support, Capital Contributions | Maximum
Overview and Basis of Presentation [Line Items]
Financial support by parent for operating, investing and financing activities				$ 20,000,000
Common Stock
Overview and Basis of Presentation [Line Items]
Impact from recapitalization transactions, Shares | shares								6,221,069
Fair value of debt						$ 67,188,000
Impact from recapitalization transactions								$ 62,000
Additional capital contribution, shares | shares								1,847,298
Issuance of common stock								$ 18,000
Series A Preferred Stock
Overview and Basis of Presentation [Line Items]
Number of shares exchanged | shares							30,000
PDL BioPharma, Inc
Overview and Basis of Presentation [Line Items]
Shares issued in exchange for extinguishment of Preferred stock | shares							3,414,825
PDL BioPharma, Inc | PDLIH
Overview and Basis of Presentation [Line Items]
Distribution of ownership interest in its wholly owned subsidiary										100.00%
PDL BioPharma, Inc | Common Stock
Overview and Basis of Presentation [Line Items]
Common stock shares issued in exchange for extinguishment of debt | shares						2,806,244
Impact from recapitalization transactions, Shares | shares						6,221,069