Short-term investments (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Short-term investments
Amortized Cost	$ 136	$ 51,124
Unrealized Losses	(26)	(18)
Fair Value	110	51,106
Available-for-sale securities
Short-term investments
Amortized Cost	76	51,094
Unrealized Losses	(26)	(18)
Fair Value	50	51,076
Term deposits
Short-term investments
Amortized Cost	60	30
Fair Value	$ 60	$ 30

Amount before tax of unrealized loss in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investments in debt securities classified as available-for-sale.

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleDebtSecuritiesAccumulatedGrossUnrealizedLossBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

This item represents the cost of debt securities, which are categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading, net of adjustments including accretion, amortization, collection of cash, previous other-than-temporary impairments recognized in earnings (less any cumulative-effect adjustments recognized, as defined), and fair value hedge accounting adjustments, if any.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (aa)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82897076&loc=d3e27161-111563

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleDebtSecuritiesAmortizedCostBasis
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of debt securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=75030427&loc=d3e22054-111558

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82896770&loc=d3e26610-111562

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (aa)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82897076&loc=d3e27161-111563

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 320
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (b)-(g)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=75019621&loc=d3e62557-112803

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesDebtSecurities
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfAvailableForSaleSecuritiesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=nbrv_MoneyMarketFundsAndUSTreasurySecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=us-gaap_CashAndCashEquivalentsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: