WARRANTS (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended					84 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2012		Aug. 31, 2011	Aug. 31, 2010	Aug. 31, 2008	Aug. 31, 2012
Common stock warrants outstanding [Abstract]
Number of shares exercisable (in shares)			7,018,850
Exercise price (in dollars per share)			$ 2.94
Black-Scholes inputs:
Risk free interest rate (in hundredths)					2.00%
Adjustment to mark to market common stock warrants	$ 3,200,000		$ 16,300,000	$ 5,900,000		$ 25,400,000
Warrants [Member]
Common stock warrants outstanding [Abstract]
Number of shares exercisable (in shares)	5,188,000					5,188,000
Exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 3.02	[1]				$ 3.02	[1]
Issued to placement agents in May and June 2008 [Member] | Warrants [Member]
Common stock warrants outstanding [Abstract]
Number of shares exercisable (in shares)	433,000					433,000
Exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 2.36					$ 2.36
Expiration date	2013-05-21					2013-05-21
Issued to placement agents in August 2009 [Member] | Warrants [Member]
Common stock warrants outstanding [Abstract]
Number of shares exercisable (in shares)	65,000					65,000
Exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 1.50					$ 1.50
Expiration date	2014-08-21					2014-08-21
2009 Merger [Member] | Warrants [Member]
Common stock warrants outstanding [Abstract]
Number of shares exercisable (in shares)	8,000					8,000
Exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 80.86	[1]				$ 80.86	[1]
2009 Merger [Member] | Minimum [Member] | Warrants [Member]
Common stock warrants outstanding [Abstract]
Expiration date	2013-06-11					2013-06-11
2009 Merger [Member] | Maximum [Member] | Warrants [Member]
Common stock warrants outstanding [Abstract]
Expiration date	2015-09-26					2015-09-26
Issued to registered direct investors in Dec 2009 [Member] | Warrants [Member]
Common stock warrants outstanding [Abstract]
Number of shares exercisable (in shares)	756,000					756,000
Exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 2.45					$ 2.45
Expiration date	2014-12-22					2014-12-22
Issued to private placement investors in Aug 2010 [Member] | Warrants [Member]
Common stock warrants outstanding [Abstract]
Number of shares exercisable (in shares)	3,595,000					3,595,000
Exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 3.075					$ 3.075
Expiration date	2015-08-12					2015-08-12
Issued to placement agent in Aug 2010 [Member] | Warrants [Member]
Common stock warrants outstanding [Abstract]
Number of shares exercisable (in shares)	98,000					98,000
Exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 3.075					$ 3.075
Expiration date	2015-08-21					2015-08-21
December 2009 equity financing, Series A [Member]
Common stock warrants outstanding [Abstract]
Number of shares exercisable (in shares)				1,873,779
Assumptions to obtain the fair value of the warrants [Abstract]
Fair value	2,900,000		5,900,000			2,900,000
Black-Scholes inputs:
Stock price (in dollars per share)	$ 4.97		$ 4.73	$ 2.98		$ 4.97
Exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 2.45		$ 2.45			$ 2.45
Risk free interest rate (in hundredths)	0.22%		0.38%	1.36%
Volatility (in hundredths)	125.00%		116.40%	85.10%
Expected term	2 years 3 months		3 years 4 months	4 years 4 months
Dividend (in hundredths)	0.00%		0.00%
December 2009 equity financing, Series B [Member]
Common stock warrants outstanding [Abstract]
Number of shares exercisable (in shares)				1,873,779
Black-Scholes inputs:
Stock price (in dollars per share)				$ 2.98
Risk free interest rate (in hundredths)				0.24%
Volatility (in hundredths)				85.10%
Expected term				9 months
August 2010 private placement, Investors and placement agent [Member]
Assumptions to obtain the fair value of the warrants [Abstract]
Fair value	$ 14,400,000		$ 17,700,000			$ 14,400,000
Black-Scholes inputs:
Stock price (in dollars per share)	$ 4.97		$ 4.73			$ 4.97
Exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 3.075		$ 3.075			$ 3.075
Risk free interest rate (in hundredths)	0.30%		0.70%
Volatility (in hundredths)	125.00%		116.00%
Expected term	3 years		4 years
Dividend (in hundredths)	0.00%		0.00%
Encode Pharmaceuticals Inc [Member]
Common stock warrants outstanding [Abstract]
Number of shares exercisable (in shares)			233,309		256,034
Exercise price (in dollars per share)			$ 2.87
Encode Pharmaceuticals Inc [Member] | Warrants [Member]
Common stock warrants outstanding [Abstract]
Number of shares exercisable (in shares)	233,000					233,000
Exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 2.87					$ 2.87
Expiration date	2015-12-13					2015-12-13

[1] Weighted-average exercise price