Segment Information And Geographic Data (Summary Information By Operating Segment) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended														12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012		Jun. 30, 2012		Mar. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011		Sep. 30, 2011		Jun. 30, 2011		Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011		Dec. 31, 2010
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total product sales	$ 24,587	$ 32,137	[1]	$ 33,284	[2]	$ 33,163	[3]	$ 31,772	[4],[5]	$ 32,310	[6]	$ 26,207	[7],[8]	$ 21,662	$ 123,171		$ 111,951	[9]	$ 85,112
Promotion Services Revenue	8,552	8,556	[1]	8,085	[2]	7,905	[3]	7,903	[4]	6,992	[6]	5,719	[7],[8]		33,098		20,614
Total net revenues															156,269		132,565		85,112
Operating income (loss)															6,410		28,955		22,394
Intangible asset impairment															42,728
China [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Zadaxin product sales															108,127		101,193		82,012
Other product sales															11,002		7,121
Total product sales															119,129		108,314		82,012
Promotion Services Revenue															33,098		20,614
Total net revenues															152,227		128,928		82,012
Operating income (loss)															4,216	[10]	47,154		43,754
Long-lived assets	35,541							79,694							35,541		79,694		202
Rest Of The World (Including The U.S.) [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Zadaxin product sales															4,042		3,637		3,100
Total net revenues															4,042		3,637		3,100
Operating income (loss)															2,194	[11]	(18,199)	[11]	(21,360)	[11]
Long-lived assets	$ 832							$ 1,092							$ 832		$ 1,092		$ 1,277

[1] For the three months ended September 30, 2012, the restatement revisions had an impact of increasing revenues, decreasing cost of product sales, and increasing net income by $7,000, $1,000 and $0.4 million, respectively, and increasing basic and diluted earnings per share by $0.01.

[2] For the three months ended June 30, 2012, the restatement revisions had an impact of increasing revenues, cost of product sales, and net income by $1.1 million, $0.4 million and $0.6 million, respectively, and increasing basic and diluted earnings per share by $0.01.

[3] For the three months ended March, 2012, the restatement revisions had an impact of increasing revenues, cost of product sales, and net income by $1.9 million, $0.6 million and $1.0 million, respectively, and increasing basic and diluted earnings per share by $0.02 and $0.01, respectively.

[4] For the three months ended December 31, 2011, the restatement revisions had an impact of decreasing revenues, cost of product sales, and net income by $1.8 million, $0.9 million, and $0.9 million, respectively, and decreasing basic and diluted earnings per share by $0.01 and $0.02, respectively.

[5] Changes to the selected quarterly financial data for the three months ended December 31, 2011 mainly related to the Company changing from the “sell-in” method to the “sell-through” method of revenue recognition for certain Pfizer products sold by the Company.

[6] For the three months ended September 30, 2011, the restatement revisions had an impact of increasing revenues, cost of product sales, and net income by $1.9 million, $1.2 million and $0.6 million, respectively, and increasing basic and diluted earnings per share by $0.01.

[7] For the three months ended June 30, 2011, the restatement revisions had an impact of decreasing revenues, cost of product sales, and net income by $1.2 million, $1.0 million and $0.1 million, respectively, and decreasing diluted earnings per share by $0.01.

[8] On April 18, 2011, SciClone acquired NovaMed. Commencing April 18, 2011, the Company’s financial statements include the assets, liabilities, operating results and cash flows of NovaMed.

[9] Revenue decreased $1.1 million and cost of product sales decreased $0.6 million mainly related to the Company changing from the “sell-in” method to the “sell-through” method of revenue recognition for certain Pfizer products sold by the Company’s NovaMed subsidiary.

[10] The operating income for the China segment for the year ended December 31, 2012, includes the $42.7 million impairment charge on the intangible assets.

[11] Operating income (loss) for the Rest of the World segment includes the change in the fair value of the contingent consideration and all research and development expense for the Company’s SCV-07 trial, which was discontinued in the first quarter of 2012.