Organization and Business Operations	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2015
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Organization and Business Operations	2. Organization and Business Operations *Business* Cortex was formed in 1987 to engage in the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative pharmaceuticals for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders. In 2011, prior management conducted a re-evaluation of Cortex’s strategic focus and determined that clinical development in the area of respiratory disorders, particularly sleep apnea and drug-induced respiratory depression, provided the most cost-effective opportunities for potential rapid development and commercialization of Cortex’s compounds. Accordingly, Cortex narrowed its clinical focus at that time and sidelined other avenues of scientific inquiry. This re-evaluation provided the impetus for Cortex’s acquisition of Pier in August 2012. The Company underwent a change in management in March 2013, and since then the Company’s current management has continued to implement this strategic focus, including seeking the capital to fund such efforts. As a result of the Company’s scientific discoveries and the acquisition of strategic, exclusive license agreements, management believes that the Company is now a leader in developing drugs for respiratory disorders, particularly sleep apneas and drug-induced respiratory depression. Since its formation in 1987, Cortex has been engaged in the research and clinical development of a class of compounds referred to as ampakines. By acting as positive allosteric modulators of AMPA glutamate receptors, ampakines increase the excitatory effects of the neurotransmitter glutamate. Preclinical research suggested that these ampakines might have therapeutic potential for the treatment of certain respiratory disorders, as well as cognitive disorders, depression, attention deficit disorder and schizophrenia. Cortex owns patents and patent applications for certain families of chemical compounds, including ampakines, which claim the chemical structures and their use in the treatment of various disorders. These patents cover, among other compounds, Cortex’s lead ampakines CX1739 and CX1942, and extend through at least 2028. On May 8, 2007, Cortex entered into a license agreement, as subsequently amended, with the University of Alberta granting Cortex exclusive rights to method of treatment patents held by the University of Alberta claiming the use of ampakines for the treatment of various respiratory disorders. These patents, along with Cortex’s own patents claiming chemical structures, comprise Cortex’s principal intellectual property supporting Cortex’s research and clinical development program in the use of ampakines for the treatment of respiratory disorders. Cortex has completed pre-clinical studies indicating that several of its ampakines, including CX717, CX1739 and CX1942, were efficacious in treating drug induced respiratory depression caused by opiates or certain anesthetics without offsetting the analgesic effects of the opiates or the anesthetic effects of the anesthetics. In two clinical Phase 2 studies, one of which was published in a peer-reviewed journal, CX717, a predecessor compound to CX1739 and CX1942, antagonized the respiratory depression produced by fentanyl, a potent narcotic, without affecting the analgesia produced by this drug. In addition, Cortex has conducted a Phase 2A clinical study in which patients with sleep apnea were administered CX1739, Cortex’s lead clinical compound. The results suggested that CX1739 might have use for the treatment of central sleep apnea (“CSA”) and mixed sleep apnea, but not obstructive sleep apnea (“OSA”). In order to expand Cortex’s respiratory disorders program, the Company acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding equity securities of Pier effective August 10, 2012 pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger. Pier was formed in June 2007 (under the name SteadySleep Rx Co.) as a clinical stage pharmaceutical company to develop a pharmacologic treatment for the respiratory disorder known as OSA and had been engaged in research and clinical development activities since formation. Through the merger, the Company gained access to an Exclusive License Agreement (as amended, the “License Agreement”) that Pier had entered into with the University of Illinois on October 10, 2007. The License Agreement covered certain patents and patent applications in the United States and other countries claiming the use of certain compounds referred to as cannabinoids, of which dronabinol is a specific example, for the treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders (including sleep apnea). Dronabinol is a synthetic derivative of the naturally occurring substance in the cannabis plant, otherwise known as Δ9-THC (Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Pier’s business plan was to determine whether dronabinol would significantly improve subjective and objective clinical measures in patients with OSA. In addition, Pier intended to evaluate the feasibility and comparative efficacy of a proprietary formulation of dronabinol. The License Agreement granted Pier, among other provisions, exclusive rights: (i) to practice certain patents and patent applications, as defined in the License Agreement, that were then held by the University of Illinois; (ii) to identify, develop, make, have made, import, export, lease, sell, have sold or offer for sale any related licensed products; and (iii) to grant sub-licenses of the rights granted in the License Agreement, subject to the provisions of the License Agreement. Pier was required under the License Agreement, among other terms and conditions, to pay the University of Illinois a license fee, royalties, patent costs and certain milestone payments. Prior to the merger, Pier conducted a 21 day, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose escalation Phase 2 clinical study in 22 patients with OSA, in which dronabinol produced a statistically significant reduction in the Apnea-Hypopnea Index, the primary therapeutic end-point, and was observed to be safe and well tolerated. The University of Illinois and three other research centers are currently investigating dronabinol in a potentially pivotal, six week, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2B clinical trial in 120 patients with OSA. This study, which the University of Illinois expects to be completed during the second quarter of 2016, is fully funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The Company is not managing or funding this ongoing clinical trial. Dronabinol is a Schedule III, controlled generic drug with a relatively low abuse potential that is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) for the treatment of AIDS-related anorexia and chemotherapy-induced emesis. The use of dronabinol for the treatment of OSA is a novel indication for an already approved drug and, as such, the Company believes that it would only require approval by the FDA of a supplemental new drug application. Subsequent to the termination of the License Agreement effective March 21, 2013, due to the Company’s failure to make a required payment, current management opened negotiations with the University of Illinois. As a result, the Company entered into a new license agreement with the University of Illinois on June 27, 2014, the material terms of which were similar to the License Agreement that was terminated on March 21, 2013. *Going Concern* The Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements have been presented on the basis that it is a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. The Company has incurred net losses of $4,241,312 for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and $2,707,535 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, negative operating cash flows of $792,414 for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and $885,869 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, and expects to continue to incur net losses and negative operating cash flows for several more years. As a result, management has concluded that there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, and the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, in their report on the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2014, has expressed substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The Company is currently, and has for some time, been in significant financial distress. It has limited cash resources and current assets and has no ongoing source of revenue. Current management is continuing to address numerous aspects of the Company’s existing business and obligations, including, without limitation, debt obligations, financing requirements, intellectual property, licensing agreements, legal and patent matters and regulatory compliance, and has continued to raise new debt and equity capital to fund the Company’s business activities. From June 2013 through March 2014, the Company’s Chairman and then Chief Executive Officer advanced short-term loans to the Company aggregating $150,000 for working capital purposes. In March and April 2014, the Company completed a private placement by selling 928.5 shares of its Series G 1.5% Convertible Preferred Stock for gross proceeds of $928,500 and repaid the aggregate advances. The Company’s Chairman and then Chief Executive Officer invested $250,000 in the Series G 1.5% Convertible Preferred Stock private placement. During November and December 2014, the Company sold short-term convertible notes and warrants in an aggregate principal amount of $369,500 to various accredited investors and an additional $210,000 of such short-term convertible notes and warrants in February 2015. The Company terminated this financing, which generated aggregate gross proceeds of $579,500, effective February 18, 2015. In June 2015, the Company’s Chairman and then Chief Executive Officer advanced $40,000 to the Company in the form of a short-term loan for working capital purposes. In August and September 2015, the Company completed two closings of a private placement by selling 44,684,266 units of its common stock and warrants for gross proceeds of $939,710 and repaid the short-term loan of $40,000 plus accrued interest of $877. On November 2, 2015, the Company entered into a third closing of this private placement by selling 12,125,536 units of its common stock and warrants for gross proceeds of $255,000. The Company’s recently appointed President and Chief Executive Officer invested $250,000 in the August 2015 closing of this private placement (see Note 7). The Company is continuing its efforts to raise additional capital in order to be able to pay its liabilities and fund its business activities on a going forward basis, including an increase in the Company’s research and development activities. As a result of the Company’s current financial situation, the Company has limited access to external sources of debt and equity financing. Accordingly, there can be no assurances that the Company will be able to secure additional financing in the amounts necessary to fully fund its operating and debt service requirements. If the Company is unable to access sufficient cash resources, the Company may be forced to discontinue its operations entirely and liquidate.

Organization and Business Operations

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

2. Organization and Business Operations

Business

Cortex was formed in 1987 to engage in the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative pharmaceuticals for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders. In 2011, prior management conducted a re-evaluation of Cortex’s strategic focus and determined that clinical development in the area of respiratory disorders, particularly sleep apnea and drug-induced respiratory depression, provided the most cost-effective opportunities for potential rapid development and commercialization of Cortex’s compounds. Accordingly, Cortex narrowed its clinical focus at that time and sidelined other avenues of scientific inquiry. This re-evaluation provided the impetus for Cortex’s acquisition of Pier in August 2012.

The Company underwent a change in management in March 2013, and since then the Company’s current management has continued to implement this strategic focus, including seeking the capital to fund such efforts. As a result of the Company’s scientific discoveries and the acquisition of strategic, exclusive license agreements, management believes that the Company is now a leader in developing drugs for respiratory disorders, particularly sleep apneas and drug-induced respiratory depression.

Since its formation in 1987, Cortex has been engaged in the research and clinical development of a class of compounds referred to as ampakines. By acting as positive allosteric modulators of AMPA glutamate receptors, ampakines increase the excitatory effects of the neurotransmitter glutamate. Preclinical research suggested that these ampakines might have therapeutic potential for the treatment of certain respiratory disorders, as well as cognitive disorders, depression, attention deficit disorder and schizophrenia.

Cortex owns patents and patent applications for certain families of chemical compounds, including ampakines, which claim the chemical structures and their use in the treatment of various disorders. These patents cover, among other compounds, Cortex’s lead ampakines CX1739 and CX1942, and extend through at least 2028.

On May 8, 2007, Cortex entered into a license agreement, as subsequently amended, with the University of Alberta granting Cortex exclusive rights to method of treatment patents held by the University of Alberta claiming the use of ampakines for the treatment of various respiratory disorders. These patents, along with Cortex’s own patents claiming chemical structures, comprise Cortex’s principal intellectual property supporting Cortex’s research and clinical development program in the use of ampakines for the treatment of respiratory disorders. Cortex has completed pre-clinical studies indicating that several of its ampakines, including CX717, CX1739 and CX1942, were efficacious in treating drug induced respiratory depression caused by opiates or certain anesthetics without offsetting the analgesic effects of the opiates or the anesthetic effects of the anesthetics. In two clinical Phase 2 studies, one of which was published in a peer-reviewed journal, CX717, a predecessor compound to CX1739 and CX1942, antagonized the respiratory depression produced by fentanyl, a potent narcotic, without affecting the analgesia produced by this drug. In addition, Cortex has conducted a Phase 2A clinical study in which patients with sleep apnea were administered CX1739, Cortex’s lead clinical compound. The results suggested that CX1739 might have use for the treatment of central sleep apnea (“CSA”) and mixed sleep apnea, but not obstructive sleep apnea (“OSA”).

In order to expand Cortex’s respiratory disorders program, the Company acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding equity securities of Pier effective August 10, 2012 pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger. Pier was formed in June 2007 (under the name SteadySleep Rx Co.) as a clinical stage pharmaceutical company to develop a pharmacologic treatment for the respiratory disorder known as OSA and had been engaged in research and clinical development activities since formation.

Through the merger, the Company gained access to an Exclusive License Agreement (as amended, the “License Agreement”) that Pier had entered into with the University of Illinois on October 10, 2007. The License Agreement covered certain patents and patent applications in the United States and other countries claiming the use of certain compounds referred to as cannabinoids, of which dronabinol is a specific example, for the treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders (including sleep apnea). Dronabinol is a synthetic derivative of the naturally occurring substance in the cannabis plant, otherwise known as Δ9-THC (Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Pier’s business plan was to determine whether dronabinol would significantly improve subjective and objective clinical measures in patients with OSA. In addition, Pier intended to evaluate the feasibility and comparative efficacy of a proprietary formulation of dronabinol.

The License Agreement granted Pier, among other provisions, exclusive rights: (i) to practice certain patents and patent applications, as defined in the License Agreement, that were then held by the University of Illinois; (ii) to identify, develop, make, have made, import, export, lease, sell, have sold or offer for sale any related licensed products; and (iii) to grant sub-licenses of the rights granted in the License Agreement, subject to the provisions of the License Agreement. Pier was required under the License Agreement, among other terms and conditions, to pay the University of Illinois a license fee, royalties, patent costs and certain milestone payments.

Prior to the merger, Pier conducted a 21 day, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose escalation Phase 2 clinical study in 22 patients with OSA, in which dronabinol produced a statistically significant reduction in the Apnea-Hypopnea Index, the primary therapeutic end-point, and was observed to be safe and well tolerated. The University of Illinois and three other research centers are currently investigating dronabinol in a potentially pivotal, six week, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2B clinical trial in 120 patients with OSA. This study, which the University of Illinois expects to be completed during the second quarter of 2016, is fully funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The Company is not managing or funding this ongoing clinical trial.

Dronabinol is a Schedule III, controlled generic drug with a relatively low abuse potential that is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) for the treatment of AIDS-related anorexia and chemotherapy-induced emesis. The use of dronabinol for the treatment of OSA is a novel indication for an already approved drug and, as such, the Company believes that it would only require approval by the FDA of a supplemental new drug application.

Subsequent to the termination of the License Agreement effective March 21, 2013, due to the Company’s failure to make a required payment, current management opened negotiations with the University of Illinois. As a result, the Company entered into a new license agreement with the University of Illinois on June 27, 2014, the material terms of which were similar to the License Agreement that was terminated on March 21, 2013.

Going Concern

The Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements have been presented on the basis that it is a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. The Company has incurred net losses of $4,241,312 for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and $2,707,535 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, negative operating cash flows of $792,414 for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and $885,869 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, and expects to continue to incur net losses and negative operating cash flows for several more years. As a result, management has concluded that there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, and the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, in their report on the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2014, has expressed substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

The Company is currently, and has for some time, been in significant financial distress. It has limited cash resources and current assets and has no ongoing source of revenue. Current management is continuing to address numerous aspects of the Company’s existing business and obligations, including, without limitation, debt obligations, financing requirements, intellectual property, licensing agreements, legal and patent matters and regulatory compliance, and has continued to raise new debt and equity capital to fund the Company’s business activities.

From June 2013 through March 2014, the Company’s Chairman and then Chief Executive Officer advanced short-term loans to the Company aggregating $150,000 for working capital purposes. In March and April 2014, the Company completed a private placement by selling 928.5 shares of its Series G 1.5% Convertible Preferred Stock for gross proceeds of $928,500 and repaid the aggregate advances. The Company’s Chairman and then Chief Executive Officer invested $250,000 in the Series G 1.5% Convertible Preferred Stock private placement. During November and December 2014, the Company sold short-term convertible notes and warrants in an aggregate principal amount of $369,500 to various accredited investors and an additional $210,000 of such short-term convertible notes and warrants in February 2015. The Company terminated this financing, which generated aggregate gross proceeds of $579,500, effective February 18, 2015. In June 2015, the Company’s Chairman and then Chief Executive Officer advanced $40,000 to the Company in the form of a short-term loan for working capital purposes. In August and September 2015, the Company completed two closings of a private placement by selling 44,684,266 units of its common stock and warrants for gross proceeds of $939,710 and repaid the short-term loan of $40,000 plus accrued interest of $877. On November 2, 2015, the Company entered into a third closing of this private placement by selling 12,125,536 units of its common stock and warrants for gross proceeds of $255,000. The Company’s recently appointed President and Chief Executive Officer invested $250,000 in the August 2015 closing of this private placement (see Note 7).

The Company is continuing its efforts to raise additional capital in order to be able to pay its liabilities and fund its business activities on a going forward basis, including an increase in the Company’s research and development activities. As a result of the Company’s current financial situation, the Company has limited access to external sources of debt and equity financing. Accordingly, there can be no assurances that the Company will be able to secure additional financing in the amounts necessary to fully fund its operating and debt service requirements. If the Company is unable to access sufficient cash resources, the Company may be forced to discontinue its operations entirely and liquidate.