Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Organization	*Organization* We are a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in San Francisco, California and incorporated in Delaware. We are developing a pipeline of drug candidates that utilize our PEGylation and advanced polymer conjugate technology platforms with the objective to improve the benefits of drugs for patients. Our research and development activities have required significant ongoing investment to date and are expected to continue to require significant investment. As a result, we expect to continue to incur substantial losses and negative cash flows from operations in the future. We have financed our operations primarily through cash generated from licensing, collaboration and manufacturing agreements and financing transactions. At September 30, 2015, we had approximately $267.8 million in cash and investments in marketable securities. Also, as of September 30, 2015, we had $132.2 million in debt, including $125.0 million of senior secured notes and $7.2 million of capital lease obligations. As is further described in Note 9, on October 5, 2015, we issued $250.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 7.75% senior secured notes due October 2020 and used a portion of the proceeds from these notes to redeem the $125.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 12.0% senior secured notes due July 2017, which is included in current liabilities in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet at September 30, 2015, and to pay an $11.3 million redemption premium and $4.5 million in interest, due upon redemption of the 12% senior secured notes.
Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation	*Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation* Our consolidated financial statements include the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of our wholly-owned subsidiaries: Nektar Therapeutics (India) Private Limited (Nektar India) and Nektar Therapeutics UK Limited. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. We prepared our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements following the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for interim reporting. As permitted under those rules, certain footnotes or other financial information that are normally required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for annual periods can be condensed or omitted. In the opinion of management, these financial statements include all normal and recurring adjustments that we consider necessary for the fair presentation of our financial position and operating results. Our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are denominated in U.S. dollars. Accordingly, changes in exchange rates between the applicable foreign currency and the U.S. dollar will affect the translation of each foreign subsidiary’s financial results into U.S. dollars for purposes of reporting our consolidated financial results. Translation gains and losses are included in accumulated other comprehensive loss in the stockholders’ equity section of the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. To date, such cumulative currency translation adjustments have not been significant to our consolidated financial position. Our comprehensive loss consists of our net loss plus our foreign currency translation gains and losses and unrealized holding gains and losses on available-for-sale securities, neither of which were significant during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014. In addition, there were no significant reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive loss to the statements of operations during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014. The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are unaudited. The Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet data as of December 31, 2014 was derived from the audited consolidated financial statements which are included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 filed with the SEC on February 26, 2015. The information included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes to those financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014. Revenue, expenses, assets, and liabilities can vary during each quarter of the year. The results and trends in these interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year or any other periods.
Use of Estimates	*Use of Estimates* The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Accounting estimates and assumptions are inherently uncertain. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates and assumptions. Our estimates include those related to estimated selling prices of deliverables in collaboration agreements, estimated periods of performance, the net realizable value of inventory, the impairment of investments, the impairment of goodwill and long-lived assets, contingencies, accrued clinical trial expenses, estimated interest expense from our liability related to our sale of future royalties, stock-based compensation, and ongoing litigation, among other estimates. We base our estimates on historical experience and on other assumptions that management believes are reasonable under the circumstances. These estimates form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities when these values are not readily apparent from other sources. As appropriate, estimates are assessed each period and updated to reflect current information and any changes in estimates will generally be reflected in the period first identified.
Reclassifications	*Reclassifications* Certain items previously reported in specific financial statement captions have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. Such reclassifications do not materially impact previously reported revenue, operating loss, net loss, total assets, liabilities or stockholders’ equity.
Segment Information	*Segment Information* We operate in one business segment which focuses on applying our technology platforms to improve the performance of established and novel drug candidates. We operate in one segment because our business offerings have similar economics and other characteristics, including the nature of products and manufacturing processes, types of customers, distribution methods and regulatory environment. We are comprehensively managed as one business segment by our Chief Executive Officer and his management team.
Significant Concentrations	*Significant Concentrations* Our customers are primarily pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that are located in the U.S. and Europe. Our accounts receivable balance contains billed and unbilled trade receivables from product sales and royalties, as well as milestones and time and materials based billings from collaborative research and development agreements. When appropriate, we provide for an allowance for doubtful accounts by reserving for specifically identified doubtful accounts. We generally do not require collateral from our customers. We perform a regular review of our customers’ payment histories and associated credit risk. We have not experienced significant credit losses from our accounts receivable and our allowance for doubtful accounts was not significant at either September 30, 2015 or December 31, 2014. We are dependent on our suppliers and contract manufacturers to provide raw materials, drugs and devices of appropriate quality and reliability and to meet applicable contract and regulatory requirements. In certain cases, we rely on single sources of supply of one or more critical materials. Consequently, in the event that supplies are delayed or interrupted for any reason, our ability to develop and produce our drug candidates or our ability to meet our supply obligations could be significantly impaired, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Revenue Recognition	*Revenue Recognition* Our revenue is derived from our arrangements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology collaboration partners and may result from one or more of the following: upfront and license fees, payments for contract research and development, milestone payments, manufacturing and supply payments, and royalties. Our performance obligations under our collaborations may include licensing our intellectual property, manufacturing and supply obligations, and research and development obligations. In order to account for the multiple-element arrangements, we identify the deliverables included within the arrangement and evaluate which deliverables represent separate units of accounting. Analyzing the arrangement to identify deliverables requires the use of judgment, and each deliverable may be an obligation to deliver services, a right or license to use an asset, or another performance obligation. Revenue is recognized separately for each identified unit of accounting when the basic revenue recognition criteria are met: there is persuasive evidence that an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred, the price is fixed or determinable, and collection is reasonably assured. At the inception of each new multiple-element arrangement or the material modification of an existing multiple-element arrangement, we allocate all consideration received under multiple-element arrangements to all units of accounting based on the relative selling price method, generally based on our best estimate of selling price (ESP). The objective of ESP is to determine the price at which we would transact a sale if the product or service was sold on a stand-alone basis. We determine ESP for the elements in our collaboration arrangements by considering multiple factors including, but not limited to, technical complexity of the performance obligation and similarity of elements to those performed under previous arrangements. Since we apply significant judgment in arriving at the ESPs, any material change in our estimates would significantly affect the allocation of the total consideration to the different elements of a multiple element arrangement. Product sales Product sales are primarily derived from fixed price and cost-plus manufacturing and supply agreements with our collaboration partners. We have not experienced any significant returns from our customers. Royalty revenue Generally, we are entitled to royalties from our collaboration partners based on the net sales of their approved drugs that are marketed and sold in one or more countries where we hold royalty rights. We recognize royalty revenue when the cash is received or when the royalty amount to be received is estimable and collection is reasonably assured. With respect to the non-cash royalties related to sale of future royalties described in Note 4, revenue is recognized when estimable, otherwise, revenue is recognized during the period in which the related royalty report is received, which generally occurs in the quarter after the applicable product sales are made. License, collaboration and other revenue The amount of upfront fees and other payments received by us in license and collaboration arrangements that are allocated to continuing performance obligations, such as manufacturing and supply obligations, are deferred and generally recognized ratably over our expected performance period under each respective arrangement. We make our best estimate of the period over which we expect to fulfill our performance obligations, which may include technology transfer assistance, research activities, clinical development activities, and manufacturing activities from development through the commercialization of the product. Given the uncertainties of these collaboration arrangements, significant judgment is required to determine the duration of the performance period and this estimate is periodically re-evaluated. Contingent consideration received from the achievement of a substantive milestone is recognized in its entirety in the period in which the milestone is achieved, which we believe is consistent with the substance of our performance under our various license and collaboration agreements. A milestone is defined as an event (i) that can only be achieved based in whole or in part either on the entity’s performance or on the occurrence of a specific outcome resulting from the entity’s performance, (ii) for which there is substantive uncertainty at the date the arrangement is entered into that the event will be achieved, and (iii) that would result in additional payments being due to the entity. A milestone is substantive if the consideration earned from the achievement of the milestone is consistent with our performance required to achieve the milestone or the increase in value to the collaboration resulting from our performance, relates solely to our past performance, and is reasonable relative to all of the other deliverables and payments within the arrangement. Our license and collaboration agreements with our partners provide for payments to us upon the achievement of development milestones, such as the completion of clinical trials or regulatory submissions, approvals by regulatory authorities, and commercial launches of drugs. Given the challenges inherent in developing and obtaining regulatory approval for drug products and in achieving commercial launches, there was substantial uncertainty whether any such milestones would be achieved at the time of execution of these licensing and collaboration agreements. In addition, we evaluated whether the development milestones met the remaining criteria to be considered substantive. As a result of our analysis, we consider our remaining development milestones under all of our license and collaboration agreements to be substantive and, accordingly, we expect to recognize as revenue future payments received from each milestone only if and as such milestone is achieved. Our license and collaboration agreements with certain partners also provide for contingent payments to us based solely upon the performance of the respective partner. For such contingent amounts, we expect to recognize the payments as revenue when earned under the applicable contract, which is generally upon completion of performance by the respective partner, provided that collection is reasonably assured. Our license and collaboration agreements with our partners also provide for payments to us upon the achievement of specified sales volumes of approved drugs. We consider these payments to be similar to royalty payments and we will recognize such sales-based payments upon achievement of such sales volumes, provided that collection is reasonably assured.
Research and Development Expense	*Research and Development Expense* Research and development costs are expensed as incurred and include salaries, benefits and other operating costs such as outside services, supplies and allocated overhead costs. We perform research and development for our proprietary drug candidates and technology development and for certain third parties under collaboration agreements. For our proprietary drug candidates and our internal technology development programs, we invest our own funds without reimbursement from a third party. We record accruals for the estimated costs of our clinical trial activities performed by third parties. The financial terms of these agreements are subject to negotiation, vary from contract to contract and may result in uneven payment flows to our vendors. Payments under the contracts depend on factors such as the achievement of certain events, successful enrollment of patients, and completion of certain clinical trial activities. We generally accrue costs associated with the start-up and reporting phases of the clinical trials ratably over the estimated duration of the start-up and reporting phases. We generally accrue costs associated with the treatment phase of clinical trials based on the total estimated cost of the treatment phase on a per patient basis and we expense the per patient cost ratably over the estimated patient treatment period based on patient enrollment in the trials. In specific circumstances, such as for certain time-based costs, we recognize clinical trial expenses using a methodology that we consider to be more reflective of the timing of costs incurred. Advance payments for goods or services that will be used or rendered for future research and development activities are capitalized as prepaid expenses and recognized as expense as the related goods are delivered or the related services are performed. We base our estimates on the best information available at the time. However, additional information may become available to us which may allow us to make a more accurate estimate in future periods. In this event, we may be required to record adjustments to research and development expenses in future periods when the actual level of activity becomes more certain. Such increases or decreases in cost are generally considered to be changes in estimates and will be reflected in research and development expenses in the period identified.
Long-Lived Assets	*Long-Lived Assets* We assess the impairment of long-lived assets, primarily property, plant and equipment and goodwill, whenever events or changes in business circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts of the assets may not be fully recoverable. When such events occur, we determine whether there has been an impairment in value by comparing the carrying value of the asset with its fair value, as measured by the anticipated undiscounted net cash flows of the asset. In the case of goodwill impairment, market capitalization is generally used as the measure of fair value. If an impairment in value exists, the asset is written down to its estimated fair value. In March 2015, we announced that the primary endpoint for our BEACON Phase 3 clinical study for NKTR-102 as a single-agent therapy for women with advanced metastatic breast cancer did not achieve statistical significance. As a result, we performed an impairment analysis for our long-lived assets, including goodwill, as well as our primary long-lived asset group which is dedicated to NKTR-102. Based on this analysis, we concluded that there is no impairment as of the end of each of the first three quarters of 2015.
Income Taxes	*Income Taxes* For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014, we recorded an income tax provision for our Nektar India operations at an effective tax rate of approximately 34%. The U.S. federal deferred tax assets generated from our net operating losses have been fully reserved, as we believe it is not more likely than not that the benefit will be realized.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements	*Recent Accounting Pronouncements* In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued guidance codified in Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606, Revenue Recognition — Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which amends the guidance in former ASC 605, Revenue Recognition, and is effective for public companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. Entities have the option of using either a full retrospective or a modified retrospective approach to adopt this new guidance. We are currently evaluating the impact of the provisions of ASC 606. In April 2015, the FASB issued guidance to simplify the presentation of debt issuance costs by requiring debt issuance costs to be presented as a deduction from the corresponding debt liability. This guidance is effective for our interim and annual periods beginning January 1, 2016 and early adoption is permitted. Upon adoption, the new guidance must be applied retrospectively to all periods presented. We do not believe the adoption of this guidance will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
Liability Related to Sale of Future Royalties	We periodically assess the estimated royalty payments to RPI from UCB and Roche and to the extent such payments are greater or less than our initial estimates, or the timing of such payments is materially different than our original estimates, we will prospectively adjust the amortization of the Royalty Obligation.