Consolidated Statements of Operations (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Revenues:
Product sales	$ 257,922	$ 215,879	$ 202,409
Contracts and grants	54,823	66,009	70,975
Total revenues	312,745	281,888	273,384
Operating expenses:
Cost of product sales	62,127	46,077	42,171
Research and development	119,933	120,226	124,832
Selling, general and administrative	87,883	76,018	74,282
Impairment of in-process research and development	0	9,600	0
Income from operations	42,802	29,967	32,099
Other income (expense):
Interest income	139	134	105
Interest expense	0	(6)	0
Other income (expense), net	426	1,970	(261)
Total other income (expense)	565	2,098	(156)
Income before provision for income taxes	43,367	32,065	31,943
Provision for income taxes	13,108	13,922	15,830
Net income	30,259	18,143	16,113
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest	876	5,381	6,906
Net income attributable to Emergent BioSolutions Inc.	$ 31,135	$ 23,524	$ 23,019
Earnings per share - basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.86	$ 0.65	$ 0.65
Earnings per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.85	$ 0.65	$ 0.64
Weighted-average number of shares - basic (in shares)	36,201,283	36,080,495	35,658,907
Weighted-average number of shares - diluted (in shares)	36,747,556	36,420,662	36,206,052