Organization and Business	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Organization and Business	1. Organization and Business *Organization* RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“RespireRx”) was formed in 1987 under the name Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to engage in the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative pharmaceuticals for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders. On December 16, 2015, the Company filed a Certificate of Amendment to its Second Restated Certificate of Incorporation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware to amend the Company’s Second Restated Certificate of Incorporation to change the name of the Company from Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. In 2011, prior management conducted a re-evaluation of RespireRx’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 RespireRx’s compounds. Accordingly, RespireRx narrowed its clinical focus at that time and sidelined other avenues of scientific inquiry. This re-evaluation provided the impetus for RespireRx’s acquisition of Pier Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Pier”) in August 2012. RespireRx and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pier, are collectively referred to herein as the “Company.” 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. *Business* Since its formation in 1987, RespireRx has been engaged in the research and clinical development of a class of proprietary compounds known as ampakines, which act to enhance the actions of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate at AMPA glutamate receptors. Several ampakines, in both oral and injectable form, are being developed by the Company for the treatment of a variety of breathing disorders. In clinical studies, select ampakines have shown preliminary efficacy in central sleep apnea and in the control of respiratory depression produced by opioids, without altering their analgesic effects. In animal models of orphan disorders, such as Pompé Disease, spinal cord damage and perinatal respiratory distress, it has been demonstrated that certain ampakines improve breathing function. The Company’s compounds belong to a new class of ampakines that do not display the undesirable side effects previously reported in animal models of earlier generations RespireRx 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, the Company’s lead ampakines CX1739 and CX1942, and extend through at least 2028. On May 8, 2007, RespireRx entered into a license agreement, as subsequently amended, with the University of Alberta granting RespireRx 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 RespireRx’s own patents claiming chemical structures, comprise RespireRx’s principal intellectual property supporting RespireRx’s research and clinical development program in the use of ampakines for the treatment of respiratory disorders. RespireRx 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 opioids or certain anesthetics without offsetting the analgesic effects of the opioids 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, RespireRx has conducted a Phase 2A clinical study in which patients with sleep apnea were administered CX1739, RespireRx’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 RespireRx’s respiratory disorders program, RespireRx 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 OSA and had been engaged in research and clinical development activities since formation. Through the merger, RespireRx 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 has indicated it 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. The Company filed an Investigational New Drug (“IND”) application with the FDA in September 2015 to conduct a double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-ascending Phase 2A clinical trial in approximately 18 subjects to determine the ability of orally administered CX1739, the Company’s proprietary lead ampakine, to prevent the respiratory depression produced by remifentanyl, a potent opioid, without altering remifentanyl’s analgesic properties. The clinical protocol was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of three escalating doses of CX1739 versus placebo when administered prior to remifentanyl, with respiration, analgesia and a number of other clinical measures being taken after administration of both drugs. The commencement of this clinical trial was subject to resolution of two deficiencies raised by the FDA in its clinical hold letter issued in November 2015, which were satisfactorily resolved in early 2016, as a result of which the FDA removed the clinical hold on the Company’s IND for CX1739 on February 25, 2016, thus allowing for the initiation of the clinical trial. During March 2016, upon receiving unconditional approval from the Institutional Review Board (“IRB”) of the Duke Clinical Research Unit, this Phase 2A clinical trial at Duke University School of Medicine was initiated. The Company expects to incur approximately $750,000 of direct costs in 2016 with respect to this clinical trial, and to complete the clinical trial in approximately four months. *Going Concern* The Company’s 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 $5,961,892 and $2,707,535 and negative operating cash flows of $1,296,100 and $885,869 for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, had a stockholders’ deficiency of $2,862,209 at December 31, 2015, and expects to continue to incur net losses and negative operating cash flows for at least the next few 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, 2015, 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 various aspects of the Company’s operations 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 through November 2015, the Company completed three closings of a private placement by selling 56,809,802 units of its common stock and warrants for gross proceeds of $1,194,710 and repaid the short-term loan of $40,000 plus accrued interest of $877. The Company’s current President and Chief Executive Officer invested $250,000 in the August 2015 closing of this private placement (see Note 6). Subsequent to December 31, 2015, the Company initiated a new private placement of common stock and warrants that generated gross proceeds of $194,635 (see Note 10) and the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer each advanced $52,600 to the Company for working capital purposes under secured short-term promissory notes payable aggregating $105,200 (see Note 10). 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

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

1. Organization and Business

Organization

RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“RespireRx”) was formed in 1987 under the name Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to engage in the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative pharmaceuticals for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders. On December 16, 2015, the Company filed a Certificate of Amendment to its Second Restated Certificate of Incorporation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware to amend the Company’s Second Restated Certificate of Incorporation to change the name of the Company from Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc.

In 2011, prior management conducted a re-evaluation of RespireRx’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 RespireRx’s compounds. Accordingly, RespireRx narrowed its clinical focus at that time and sidelined other avenues of scientific inquiry. This re-evaluation provided the impetus for RespireRx’s acquisition of Pier Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Pier”) in August 2012. RespireRx and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pier, are collectively referred to herein as the “Company.”

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.

Business

Since its formation in 1987, RespireRx has been engaged in the research and clinical development of a class of proprietary compounds known as ampakines, which act to enhance the actions of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate at AMPA glutamate receptors. Several ampakines, in both oral and injectable form, are being developed by the Company for the treatment of a variety of breathing disorders. In clinical studies, select ampakines have shown preliminary efficacy in central sleep apnea and in the control of respiratory depression produced by opioids, without altering their analgesic effects. In animal models of orphan disorders, such as Pompé Disease, spinal cord damage and perinatal respiratory distress, it has been demonstrated that certain ampakines improve breathing function. The Company’s compounds belong to a new class of ampakines that do not display the undesirable side effects previously reported in animal models of earlier generations

RespireRx 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, the Company’s lead ampakines CX1739 and CX1942, and extend through at least 2028.

On May 8, 2007, RespireRx entered into a license agreement, as subsequently amended, with the University of Alberta granting RespireRx 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 RespireRx’s own patents claiming chemical structures, comprise RespireRx’s principal intellectual property supporting RespireRx’s research and clinical development program in the use of ampakines for the treatment of respiratory disorders. RespireRx 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 opioids or certain anesthetics without offsetting the analgesic effects of the opioids 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, RespireRx has conducted a Phase 2A clinical study in which patients with sleep apnea were administered CX1739, RespireRx’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 RespireRx’s respiratory disorders program, RespireRx 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 OSA and had been engaged in research and clinical development activities since formation.

Through the merger, RespireRx 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 has indicated it 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.

The Company filed an Investigational New Drug (“IND”) application with the FDA in September 2015 to conduct a double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-ascending Phase 2A clinical trial in approximately 18 subjects to determine the ability of orally administered CX1739, the Company’s proprietary lead ampakine, to prevent the respiratory depression produced by remifentanyl, a potent opioid, without altering remifentanyl’s analgesic properties. The clinical protocol was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of three escalating doses of CX1739 versus placebo when administered prior to remifentanyl, with respiration, analgesia and a number of other clinical measures being taken after administration of both drugs. The commencement of this clinical trial was subject to resolution of two deficiencies raised by the FDA in its clinical hold letter issued in November 2015, which were satisfactorily resolved in early 2016, as a result of which the FDA removed the clinical hold on the Company’s IND for CX1739 on February 25, 2016, thus allowing for the initiation of the clinical trial. During March 2016, upon receiving unconditional approval from the Institutional Review Board (“IRB”) of the Duke Clinical Research Unit, this Phase 2A clinical trial at Duke University School of Medicine was initiated. The Company expects to incur approximately $750,000 of direct costs in 2016 with respect to this clinical trial, and to complete the clinical trial in approximately four months.

Going Concern

The Company’s 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 $5,961,892 and $2,707,535 and negative operating cash flows of $1,296,100 and $885,869 for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, had a stockholders’ deficiency of $2,862,209 at December 31, 2015, and expects to continue to incur net losses and negative operating cash flows for at least the next few 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, 2015, 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 various aspects of the Company’s operations 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 through November 2015, the Company completed three closings of a private placement by selling 56,809,802 units of its common stock and warrants for gross proceeds of $1,194,710 and repaid the short-term loan of $40,000 plus accrued interest of $877. The Company’s current President and Chief Executive Officer invested $250,000 in the August 2015 closing of this private placement (see Note 6). Subsequent to December 31, 2015, the Company initiated a new private placement of common stock and warrants that generated gross proceeds of $194,635 (see Note 10) and the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer each advanced $52,600 to the Company for working capital purposes under secured short-term promissory notes payable aggregating $105,200 (see Note 10).

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.