Document And Entity Information	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Nov. 10, 2014
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Registrant Name	Synthetic Biologics, Inc.
Entity Central Index Key	0000894158
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Smaller Reporting Company
Trading Symbol	SYN
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		72,513,144
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2014
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2014