License Agreement (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($) item	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)
License Agreement
Revenues	$ 7,551	$ 1,678
License Agreement \| Subsequent regulatory approval
License Agreement
Maximum contingent milestone payment	4,000
License Agreement \| Clinical trial application submission
License Agreement
Revenues	$ 1,500
Sinovant Sciences, LTD \| License Agreement
License Agreement
Notice period for termination of agreement	180 days
Number of deliverables \| item	2
Sinovant Sciences, LTD \| License Agreement \| Achievement of certain regulatory and commercial milestones
License Agreement
Maximum contingent milestone payment	$ 91,500
Upfront payment received \| Sinovant Sciences, LTD
License Agreement
Revenues	$ 5,000

The maximum possible contingent consideration under a licensing agreement.

No definition available.

Name:	nbrv_CollaborativeArrangementMaximumContingentConsideration
Namespace Prefix:	nbrv_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Notice period for termination of license agreement, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbrv_NoticePeriodForTerminationOfLicenseAgreement
Namespace Prefix:	nbrv_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of deliverables or units of accounting at inception.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbrv_NumberOfDeliverables
Namespace Prefix:	nbrv_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
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_CollaborativeArrangementsAndNoncollaborativeArrangementTransactionsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of revenue recognized from goods sold, services rendered, insurance premiums, or other activities that constitute an earning process. Includes, but is not limited to, investment and interest income before deduction of interest expense when recognized as a component of revenue, and sales and trading gain (loss).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=63488584&loc=d3e20235-122688

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_Revenues
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TypeOfArrangementAxis=nbrv_LicenseAgreementMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementScenarioAxis=nbrv_SubsequentRegulatoryApprovalMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementScenarioAxis=nbrv_ClinicalTrialApplicationSubmissionMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CounterpartyNameAxis=nbrv_SinovantSciencesLtdMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementScenarioAxis=nbrv_AchievementOfCertainRegulatoryAndCommercialMilestonesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ProductOrServiceAxis=nbrv_LicenseInitialPaymentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: