Description of Business	12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Description of Business	1. Description of Business We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing innovative product candidates for patients with diseases and disorders involving the central nervous system (CNS). Our lead product candidate, AV-101, is a next generation, orally available prodrug candidate in Phase 2 development, initially for the adjunctive treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in patients with an inadequate response to standard antidepressants currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). AV-101’s mechanism of action, as an N-methyl D aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist binding selectively at the glycine binding (GlyB) co-agonist site of the NMDAR, is fundamentally differentiated from all antidepressants, as well as all atypical antipsychotics used adjunctively with standard, FDA-approved antidepressants. Our ongoing Phase 2a clinical study of AV-101 in subjects with treatment-resistant MDD is being conducted and funded by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under our February 2015 Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the NIMH. The first patient in this NIMH-sponsored Phase 2a study was dosed in November 2015. The Principal Investigator of the study is Dr. Carlos Zarate, Jr., Chief of the NIMH’s Experimental Therapeutics & Pathophysiology Branch and its Section on Neurobiology and Treatment of Mood and Anxiety Disorders. Previous NIMH studies, including studies conducted by Dr. Zarate, have focused on the effects of low dose intravenous (I.V.) ketamine on treatment-resistant depression. These NIMH studies, as well as clinical research by others, have demonstrated robust antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant MDD within hours of a single low dose of I.V. ketamine and stimulated research and development around a new generation of antidepressants with potential to deliver ketamine-like fast-acting antidepressant benefits without ketamine-like side effects. We are preparing to launch our Phase 2b clinical study of AV-101 for the adjunctive treatment of MDD in patients with an inadequate response to standard, FDA-approved antidepressants. We anticipate commencement of this multi-center, multi-dose, double blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2b efficacy and safety study in the fourth quarter of 2016. Dr. Maurizio Fava, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Director, Division of Clinical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Research Institute and Executive Director, MGH Clinical Trials Network and Institute, will be the Principal Investigator of our Phase 2b study of AV-101 in MDD. We also believe AV-101 has broad therapeutic utility, with multiple CNS pipeline expansion opportunities, including chronic neuropathic pain, epilepsy, Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. In addition to clinical development of AV-101, we are focused on collaborating with third-parties to advance potential commercial applications of our human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) technology platform, including drug rescue to develop proprietary small molecule new chemical entities (NCEs) for our internal drug candidate pipeline, and regenerative medicine (RM) using blood, cartilage, heart and/or liver cells derived from hPSCs.

Description of Business

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

1. Description of Business

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing innovative product candidates for patients with diseases and disorders involving the central nervous system (CNS). Our lead product candidate, AV-101, is a next generation, orally available prodrug candidate in Phase 2 development, initially for the adjunctive treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in patients with an inadequate response to standard antidepressants currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

AV-101’s mechanism of action, as an N-methyl D aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist binding selectively at the glycine binding (GlyB) co-agonist site of the NMDAR, is fundamentally differentiated from all antidepressants, as well as all atypical antipsychotics used adjunctively with standard, FDA-approved antidepressants.

Our ongoing Phase 2a clinical study of AV-101 in subjects with treatment-resistant MDD is being conducted and funded by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under our February 2015 Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the NIMH. The first patient in this NIMH-sponsored Phase 2a study was dosed in November 2015. The Principal Investigator of the study is Dr. Carlos Zarate, Jr., Chief of the NIMH’s Experimental Therapeutics & Pathophysiology Branch and its Section on Neurobiology and Treatment of Mood and Anxiety Disorders. Previous NIMH studies, including studies conducted by Dr. Zarate, have focused on the effects of low dose intravenous (I.V.) ketamine on treatment-resistant depression. These NIMH studies, as well as clinical research by others, have demonstrated robust antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant MDD within hours of a single low dose of I.V. ketamine and stimulated research and development around a new generation of antidepressants with potential to deliver ketamine-like fast-acting antidepressant benefits without ketamine-like side effects.

We are preparing to launch our Phase 2b clinical study of AV-101 for the adjunctive treatment of MDD in patients with an inadequate response to standard, FDA-approved antidepressants. We anticipate commencement of this multi-center, multi-dose, double blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2b efficacy and safety study in the fourth quarter of 2016. Dr. Maurizio Fava, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Director, Division of Clinical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Research Institute and Executive Director, MGH Clinical Trials Network and Institute, will be the Principal Investigator of our Phase 2b study of AV-101 in MDD.

We also believe AV-101 has broad therapeutic utility, with multiple CNS pipeline expansion opportunities, including chronic neuropathic pain, epilepsy, Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

In addition to clinical development of AV-101, we are focused on collaborating with third-parties to advance potential commercial applications of our human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) technology platform, including drug rescue to develop proprietary small molecule new chemical entities (NCEs) for our internal drug candidate pipeline, and regenerative medicine (RM) using blood, cartilage, heart and/or liver cells derived from hPSCs.