Common stock - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	0 Months Ended							3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended				0 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended					0 Months Ended
	Aug. 07, 2014	May 08, 2014	Mar. 06, 2014 Directors	Jun. 25, 2013	May 30, 2013	Apr. 08, 2013	Apr. 02, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014 Aquinox USA [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Aquinox USA [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Aquinox USA [Member] Biolipox AB [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Aquinox USA [Member] Biolipox AB [Member]	Mar. 06, 2014 Non-employee Directors [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 April 2, 2013 and April 8, 2013 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 May 30, 2013 and June 25, 2013 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 May 8, 2014 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 March 6, 2014 [Member] Non-employee Directors [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 August 7, 2014 [Member]	Jan. 27, 2014 Equity Incentive Plan 2006 [Member]	Jan. 27, 2014 Equity Incentive Plan 2014 [Member]	Jan. 27, 2014 Equity Incentive Plan 2014 [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Stock options granted	9,000	175,500		6,510	3,906	13,020	39,322									33,332						0
Maximum number of shares of common stock that may be issued																								1,423,416
Common stock, shares outstanding																							756,279
Shares of common stock reserved for issuance description										Additionally, the number of shares of common stock reserved for issuance under the 2014 Plan will automatically increase on January 1 of each year for a period of up to 10 years, beginning on January 1, 2015 and ending on and including January 1, 2024, by 4% of the total number of shares of capital outstanding on December 31 of the preceding calendar year, or a lesser number of shares determined by the board of directors.
Shares of common stock reserved for issuance percentage										4.00%
Years of increase in shares of common stock reserved for issuance										10 years
Exercise price per share of options granted to non-employee directors				$ 5.76	$ 5.76											$ 11.00
Number of non-employee directors			4
Options expiry date	Aug. 06, 2024	May 07, 2024		Jun. 24, 2023	May 29, 2023	Apr. 07, 2023	Apr. 01, 2023									Mar. 05, 2024
Options vesting period	4 years	4 years		2 years	2 years	4 years	4 years									3 years
Options vesting description																	The options vest over four years with one-fourth of the options vesting one year after vesting commencement date and the balance of the options vesting in a series of thirty-six successive equal monthly installments measured from the first anniversary of the vesting commencement date.	The options vest over two years with one-third of the options vesting immediately upon grant and the balance of the options vesting in a series of twenty-four successive equal monthly installments on the last day of each month.	The options vest over four years with one-fourth of the options vesting one year after vesting commencement date and the balance of the options vesting in a series of thirty-six successive equal monthly installments measured from the first anniversary of the vesting commencement date.	The options vest over three years with one-third of the options vesting on each anniversary of the vesting commencement date from 2015 to 2017.	The options vest over four years with one-fourth of the options vesting one year after vesting commencement date and the balance of the options vesting in a series of thirty-six successive equal monthly installments measured from the first anniversary of the vesting commencement date.
Exercise price per share	$ 7.50	$ 10.10				$ 5.76	$ 5.76
Common stock issued upon exercise of options								86
Common stock issued upon exercise of options aggregate intrinsic value								$ 141
Stock-based compensation expense								232,635	127,161	585,111	255,318
Unrecognized stock-based compensation cost								2,981,589		2,981,589
Unrecognized stock-based compensation cost, weighted-average period recognized										2 years 10 months 13 days
Common stock, shares authorized												50,000,000	139,266,037
Common stock, par value												$ 0.000001	$ 0.000001
Common stock, shares issued												10,695,108	301,745		19,762
Fair value of shares issued														$ 186,356
Common stock, shares outstanding												10,695,108	301,745