Consolidated Statement of Stockholders' Equity (Deficit) (USD $) Share data in Thousands	Common Stock [Member]	Additional Paid-In Capital [Member]	Receivable from Stockholders [Member]	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Member]	Deficit Accumulated During Development Stage [Member]	Total
Balance at Sep. 07, 2005	$ 1,000	$ 9,000	$ (10,000)		$ 0	$ 0
Balance (in shares) at Sep. 07, 2005	1,399
Common stock issued in May 2006 at $0.43 per share pursuant to a stock purchase agreement dated February 2006	500	99,500	(100,000)		0	0
Common stock issued in May 2006 at $0.43 per share pursuant to a stock purchase agreement dated February 2006 (in shares)	233
Common stock issued in May 2006 at $0.86 per share pursuant to a stock purchase agreement dated February 2006	500	199,500	0		0	200,000
Common stock issued in May 2006 at $0.86 per share pursuant to a stock purchase agreement dated February 2006 (in shares)	233
Common stock issued on May 25, 2006 at $2.57 per share, net of fundraising costs of $218	2,000	4,780,000	0		0	4,782,000
Common stock issued on May 25, 2006 at $2.57 per share, net of fundraising costs of $218 (in shares)	1,943
Common stock and warrants issued for a placement fee in connection with May 25, 2006 financing	0	0	0		0	0
Common stock and warrants issued for a placement fee in connection with May 25, 2006 financing (in shares)	186
Common stock issued in connection with reverse merger in May 2006	3,000	(3,000)	0		0	0
Common stock issued in connection with reverse merger in May 2006 (in shares)	2,914
Repayment of receivable from stockholders	0	0	110,000		0	110,000
Exercise of common stock options (in shares)						0
Consultant stock-based compensation expense	0	24,000	0		0	24,000
Net loss	0	0	0		(969,000)	(969,000)
Balance at Aug. 31, 2006	7,000	5,109,000	0		(969,000)	4,147,000
Balance (in shares) at Aug. 31, 2006	6,908
Exercise of common stock warrants	1,000	1,969,000			0	1,970,000
Exercise of common stock warrants (in shares)	766
Exercise of common stock options	0	8,000			0	8,000
Exercise of common stock options (in shares)	3					3
Consultant stock-based compensation expense	0	96,000			0	96,000
Employee stock-based compensation expense	0	369,000			0	369,000
Net loss	0	0			(3,632,000)	(3,632,000)
Balance at Aug. 31, 2007	8,000	7,551,000			(4,601,000)	2,958,000
Balance (in shares) at Aug. 31, 2007	7,677
Exercise of common stock warrants	1,000	1,924,000			0	1,925,000
Exercise of common stock warrants (in shares)	748
Exercise of common stock options (in shares)						0
Consultant stock-based compensation expense	0	240,000			0	240,000
Consultant stock based compensation expense (in shares)	2
Employee stock-based compensation expense	0	492,000			0	492,000
Employee stock-based compensation expense (in shares)	23
Issuance of common stock for loan placement fee	0	102,000			0	102,000
Issuance of common stock for loan placement fee (in shares)	47
Issuance of common stock for the purchase of Convivia, Inc. assets	0	240,000			0	240,000
Issuance of common stock for the purchase of Convivia, Inc. assets (in shares)	102
Issuance of common stock for the merger with Encode Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	0	2,658,000			0	2,658,000
Issuance of common stock for the merger with Encode Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (in shares)	803
Issuance of common stock and warrants under private placement at specified price including placement agent warrants net of fundraising costs	5,000	9,051,000			0	9,056,000
Issuance of common stock and warrants under private placement at specified price including placement agent warrants net of fundraising costs (in shares)	4,662
Net loss	0	0			(8,054,000)	(8,054,000)
Balance at Aug. 31, 2008	14,000	22,258,000			(12,655,000)	9,617,000
Balance (in shares) at Aug. 31, 2008	14,064
Exercise of common stock warrants	2,000	2,613,000			0	2,615,000
Exercise of common stock warrants (in shares)	2,032
Exercise of common stock options (in shares)						0
Consultant stock-based compensation expense	0	48,000			0	48,000
Consultant stock based compensation expense (in shares)	0
Employee stock-based compensation expense	0	354,000			0	354,000
Employee stock-based compensation expense (in shares)	23
Issuance of common stock and warrants under private placement at specified price including placement agent warrants net of fundraising costs	2,000	2,091,000			0	2,093,000
Issuance of common stock and warrants under private placement at specified price including placement agent warrants net of fundraising costs (in shares)	1,738
Net loss	0	0			(9,224,000)	(9,224,000)
Balance at Aug. 31, 2009	18,000	27,364,000		0	(21,879,000)	5,503,000
Balance (in shares) at Aug. 31, 2009	17,857
Exercise of common stock warrants	0	475,000		0	0	475,000
Exercise of common stock warrants (in shares)	197
Exercise of common stock options	0	64,000		0	0	64,000
Exercise of common stock options (in shares)	38					38
Consultant stock-based compensation expense	0	78,000		0	0	78,000
Consultant stock based compensation expense (in shares)	0
Employee stock-based compensation expense	0	217,000		0	0	217,000
Employee stock-based compensation expense (in shares)	12
Common stock issued and warrants/options assumed with 2009 Merger	1,000	4,416,000		0	0	4,417,000
Common stock issued and warrants/options assumed with 2009 Merger (in shares)	941
Issuance of common stock for the purchase of Convivia, Inc. assets						0
Issuance of common stock and warrants under private placement at specified price including placement agent warrants net of fundraising costs	5,000	13,598,000		0	0	13,603,000
Issuance of common stock and warrants under private placement at specified price including placement agent warrants net of fundraising costs (in shares)	4,898
Issuance of common stock pursuant to an equity line facility at specified price net of fundraising costs and commitment shares	2,000	4,840,000		0	0	4,842,000
Issuance of common stock pursuant to an equity line facility at specified price net of fundraising costs and commitment shares (in shares)	2,387
Issuance of common stock and warrants in a registered direct financing at $2.00 per unit, including placement agent warrants, net of fundraising costs of $1,247	4,000	6,243,000		0	0	6,247,000
Issuance of common stock and warrants in a registered direct financing at $2.00 per unit, including placement agent warrants, net of fundraising costs of $1,247 (in shares)	3,747
Initial value of warrants issued in a registered direct financing	0	(1,864,000)		0	0	(1,864,000)
Initial value of warrants issued in 2010 private placement	0	(7,813,000)		0	0	(7,813,000)
Reclassification of the fair value of warrant liabilities upon exercise						0
Comprehensive loss	0	0		(8,000)	(18,928,000)	(18,936,000)
Foreign currency translation gain (loss)						(8,000)
Net loss						(18,928,000)
Balance at Aug. 31, 2010	30,000	47,618,000		(8,000)	(40,807,000)	6,833,000
Balance (in shares) at Aug. 31, 2010	30,077
Exercise of common stock warrants	4,000	8,909,000		0	0	8,913,000
Exercise of common stock warrants (in shares)	3,340
Exercise of common stock options	0	96,000		0	0	96,000
Exercise of common stock options (in shares)	39					39
Consultant stock-based compensation expense	0	197,000		0	0	197,000
Consultant stock based compensation expense (in shares)	0
Employee stock-based compensation expense	0	1,920,000		0	0	1,920,000
Employee stock-based compensation expense (in shares)	0
Issuance of common stock pursuant to an equity line facility at specified price net of fundraising costs and commitment shares	2,000	6,571,000		0	0	6,573,000
Issuance of common stock pursuant to an equity line facility at specified price net of fundraising costs and commitment shares (in shares)	2,113
Reclassification of the fair value of warrant liabilities upon exercise	0	8,506,000		0	0	8,506,000
Comprehensive loss						(37,185,000)
Foreign currency translation gain (loss)	0	0		10,000	0	10,000
Net loss	0	0		0	(37,195,000)	(37,195,000)
Balance at Aug. 31, 2011	36,000	73,817,000		2,000	(78,002,000)	(4,147,000)
Balance (in shares) at Aug. 31, 2011	35,569
Exercise of common stock warrants	2,000	5,011,000		0	0	5,013,000
Exercise of common stock warrants (in shares)	1,831
Exercise of common stock options	0	366,000		0	0	366,000
Exercise of common stock options (in shares)	160					160
Consultant stock-based compensation expense	0	72,000		0	0	72,000
Consultant stock based compensation expense (in shares)	0
Employee stock-based compensation expense	0	4,487,000		0	0	4,487,000
Employee stock-based compensation expense (in shares)	0
Reclassification of the fair value of warrant liabilities upon exercise	0	9,482,000		0	0	9,482,000
Issuance of common stock in a follow-on public offering at a specified price net of fundraising costs	12,000	42,822,000		0	0	42,834,000
Issuance of common stock in a follow-on public offering at a specified price net of fundraising costs (in shares)	11,500
Issue of common stock pursuant to an at-the-market financing facility at a specified price net of fundraising costs	1,000	7,323,000		0	0	7,324,000
Issue of common stock pursuant to an at-the-market financing facility at a specified price net of fundraising costs (in shares)	1,508
Comprehensive loss						(38,696,000)
Foreign currency translation gain (loss)	0	0		(52,000)	0	(52,000)
Net loss	0	0		0	(38,644,000)	(38,644,000)
Balance at Aug. 31, 2012	51,000	143,380,000		(50,000)	(116,646,000)	26,735,000
Balance (in shares) at Aug. 31, 2012	50,568
Exercise of common stock warrants	0	1,843,000		0	0	1,843,000
Exercise of common stock warrants (in shares)	625
Exercise of common stock options	0	192,000		0	0	192,000
Exercise of common stock options (in shares)	79					79
Consultant stock-based compensation expense	0	9,000		0	0	9,000
Consultant stock based compensation expense (in shares)	0
Employee stock-based compensation expense	0	2,230,000		0	0	2,230,000
Employee stock-based compensation expense (in shares)	0
Reclassification of the fair value of warrant liabilities upon exercise	0	2,345,000		0	0	2,345,000
Issue of common stock pursuant to an at-the-market financing facility at a specified price net of fundraising costs	1,000	5,946,000		0	0	5,947,000
Issue of common stock pursuant to an at-the-market financing facility at a specified price net of fundraising costs (in shares)	1,153
Comprehensive loss						(19,357,000)
Foreign currency translation gain (loss)	0	0		(65,000)	0	(65,000)
Net loss	0	0		0	(19,292,000)	(19,292,000)
Balance at Dec. 31, 2012	$ 52,000	$ 155,945,000		$ (115,000)	$ (135,938,000)	$ 19,944,000
Balance (in shares) at Dec. 31, 2012	52,425