Collaboration Revenue - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended							0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended						1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended						0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	0 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	0 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2014 Upfront and Milestone Payments	Mar. 31, 2013 Upfront and Milestone Payments	Dec. 31, 2013 Upfront and Milestone Payments	Mar. 31, 2014 Research And Development Services	Mar. 31, 2013 Research And Development Services	Nov. 18, 2011 Synthetic Biologics Field One ECC	Aug. 06, 2012 Synthetic Biologics Field Two ECC	Mar. 31, 2014 Synthetic Biologics, Inc.	Mar. 31, 2013 Synthetic Biologics, Inc.	Mar. 31, 2014 Synthetic Biologics, Inc. Upfront and Milestone Payments	Mar. 31, 2013 Synthetic Biologics, Inc. Upfront and Milestone Payments	Mar. 31, 2014 Synthetic Biologics, Inc. Research And Development Services	Mar. 31, 2013 Synthetic Biologics, Inc. Research And Development Services	Dec. 17, 2012 Synthetic Biologics, Inc. Research And Development Services	Jun. 05, 2012 Oragenics ECC	Sep. 30, 2013 Oragenics Second ECC	Oct. 05, 2012 Fibrocell Science, Inc.	Mar. 31, 2014 Fibrocell Science, Inc.	Mar. 31, 2013 Fibrocell Science, Inc.	Mar. 31, 2014 Fibrocell Science, Inc. Upfront and Milestone Payments	Mar. 31, 2013 Fibrocell Science, Inc. Upfront and Milestone Payments	Mar. 31, 2014 Fibrocell Science, Inc. Research And Development Services	Mar. 31, 2013 Fibrocell Science, Inc. Research And Development Services	Feb. 14, 2013 AquaBounty ECC	Mar. 31, 2013 Genopaver, LLC	Mar. 31, 2014 Genopaver, LLC	Mar. 31, 2014 Genopaver, LLC Upfront and Milestone Payments	Mar. 31, 2014 Genopaver, LLC Research And Development Services	Jan. 06, 2011 ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc.	Mar. 31, 2014 ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc.	Mar. 31, 2013 ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc.	Mar. 31, 2014 ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. Upfront and Milestone Payments	Mar. 31, 2013 ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. Upfront and Milestone Payments	Mar. 31, 2014 ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. Research And Development Services	Mar. 31, 2013 ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. Research And Development Services	Nov. 18, 2011 Upfront Synthetic Biologics Field One ECC Upfront and Milestone Payments	Oct. 05, 2012 Upfront Synthetic Biologics Field Two ECC Upfront and Milestone Payments	Jun. 05, 2012 Upfront Oragenics ECC Upfront and Milestone Payments	Sep. 30, 2013 Upfront Oragenics Second ECC Upfront and Milestone Payments	Dec. 31, 2013 Upfront Oragenics Second ECC Upfront and Milestone Payments	Oct. 05, 2012 Upfront Fibrocell Science, Inc. Upfront and Milestone Payments	Mar. 31, 2013 Upfront Genopaver, LLC Upfront and Milestone Payments	Jan. 06, 2011 Upfront ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. Upfront and Milestone Payments	Jan. 06, 2011 Upfront Ziopharm Oncology ECC Separate Unit of Accounting Upfront and Milestone Payments	Jan. 06, 2011 Upfront Ziopharm Oncology ECC Unit of Accounting One Upfront and Milestone Payments	Mar. 31, 2014 Upfront Intrexon Energy Partners, LLC Upfront and Milestone Payments	Jan. 10, 2014 Supplemental Upfront Fibrocell Science, Inc. Upfront and Milestone Payments	Jun. 28, 2013 Supplemental Upfront Fibrocell Science, Inc. Upfront and Milestone Payments	Oct. 24, 2012 Milestone One ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. Upfront and Milestone Payments
Collaboration Agreements [Line Items]
Collaborative arrangement consideration received, shares																																							3,123,558	3,552,210	4,392,425	1,348,000		1,317,520		3,636,926				1,024,590	1,243,781	3,636,926
Collaborative arrangement consideration received, value																																							$ 1,687	$ 7,815	$ 6,588	$ 3,503		$ 7,576	$ 3,000	$ 17,457			$ 25,000	$ 5,225	$ 7,612	$ 18,330
Collaboration revenue	7,837	3,864		1,882	1,137		5,955	2,727			359	570	162	195	197	375					1,310	588	448	158	862	430			490	69	421		2,680	2,074	644	644	2,036	1,430									1,115
Deferred revenue	101,980		73,571	100,750		72,207											2,500																															16,342
Percent of shares outstanding at the date of achievement of future milestone									9.995%									1.00%														7.495%
Royalty rate as a percentage of net profit									50.00%									25.00%														50.00%
Required notice period for voluntary termination of collaborative agreement									90 days	90 days								90 days	90 days	90 days								90 days				90 days
Period when agreement cannot be voluntarily terminated									18 months	18 months								18 months														2 years
Consideration to be received upon achievement of future milestone 1										2,000									2,000
Consideration to be received upon achievement of future milestone 2										3,000									5,000
Field expansion fee										2,000
Percentage of shares outstanding at the date of achievement of future milestone 2																		1.50%
Percentage of shares outstanding at the date of achievement of future milestone 3																		2.00%
Percentage of shares outstanding at the date of achievement of future milestone 4																		2.50%
Percentage of shares outstanding at the date of achievement of future milestone 5																		3.00%
Maturity date of promissory note																																										December 31, 2013
Collaborative arrangement consideration received, value of convertible promissory note																																										1,956
Consideration to be received upon achievement of future milestone 3																			10,000
Royalty rate as a percentage of net sales, tier 1																			10.00%	7.00%
Conversion of promissory note into Common stock																																											698,241
Number of reverse stock split																																												1-for-25 reverse stock split
Royalty rate as a percentage of net sales, tier 2																				14.00%
Royalty rate of savings from improvement																				33.00%
Level of net sales at which royalty rate changes to tier 2																				$ 25,000
Royalty rate as a percentage of gross profit																											16.66%