401(k) Plan (Details Narrative) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Employer matching contribution vesting period	1 year
Percentage of employer matching contribution	6.00%
Hemispherx Biopharma Employees 401(k) Plan [Member]
Minimum eligibility of employee service period	1 year
Percentage of maximum annual contribution per employee, as percentage of their annual salary	15.00%
Employer contributions to the plan	$ 0	$ 0

Refers to employee eligibility threshold for participation in the plan.

No definition available.

Name:	HEB_DefinedContributionPlanEmployerMatchingContributionMinimumNumberOfYearsOfEmployment
Namespace Prefix:	HEB_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Refers to employer contribution vesting period, in PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	HEB_DefinedContributionPlanEmployerMatchingContributionVestingPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	HEB_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of cost for defined contribution plan.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 70
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=49170846&loc=d3e28014-114942

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanCostRecognized
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of employees' gross pay for which the employer contributes a matching contribution to a defined contribution plan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanEmployerMatchingContributionPercent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Maximum percentage of employee gross pay the employee may contribute to a defined contribution plan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanMaximumAnnualContributionsPerEmployeePercent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RetirementPlanNameAxis=HEB_HemispherxBiopharmaEmployees401kPlanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: