Lease Obligations -Balance Sheets of the Company's Operating Leases (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2022	Dec. 31, 2021
Assets:
Operating lease assets, net	$ 6,797	$ 6,472
Other assets [extensible enumeration]	Other assets
Liabilities:
Lease financing obligation	$ 2,196	1,819
Lease financing obligation	5,968	5,962
Total operating lease liabilities	$ 8,164	$ 7,781

Information on operating lease right-of-use assets.

No definition available.

Name:	bcrx_OperatingLeaseAssets
Namespace Prefix:	bcrx_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Present value of lessee's discounted obligation for lease payments from operating lease.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123391704&loc=SL77918627-209977

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLeaseLiability
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLeaseLiabilityAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Present value of lessee's discounted obligation for lease payments from operating lease, classified as current.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLeaseLiabilityCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Present value of lessee's discounted obligation for lease payments from operating lease, classified as noncurrent.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLeaseLiabilityNoncurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of lessee's right to use underlying asset under operating lease.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123391704&loc=SL77918627-209977

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLeaseRightOfUseAsset
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Indicates line item in statement of financial position that includes operating lease right-of-use asset.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123391704&loc=SL77918631-209977

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLeaseRightOfUseAssetStatementOfFinancialPositionExtensibleList
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	enum2:enumerationSetItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant