| **Interim Financial Statements**            | 9 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           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| **Interim Financial Statements [Abstract]** |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          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| Interim Financial Statements                | 1.  Interim Financial StatementsProgenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Progenics," "we" or "us") is dedicated to the development of innovative medicines to treat disease. In 2011, we licensed our first commercial product, Relistor® (methylnaltrexone bromide) subcutaneous injection, to Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading gastrointestinal disease specialty company. Relistor is marketed directly by Salix through its specialty sales force in the United States and outside the U.S. by Salix's sublicensees and distributors except in Japan, where we have previously licensed to Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. the subcutaneous formulation of the drug.Relistor is approved in the U.S., the European Union and elsewhere for treatment of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in advanced-illness patients receiving palliative care when laxative therapy has not been sufficient. Under our License Agreement, Salix is responsible for further developing and commercializing subcutaneous Relistor, including completing clinical development necessary to support regulatory marketing approvals for potential new indications and formulations of the drug. As part of those efforts, we and Salix have sought to expand the availability of subcutaneous Relistor to patients with chronic, non-cancer pain, and to develop an oral formulation of methylnaltrexone for use by such patients.  As previously announced, on July 27 the FDA issued a Complete Response Letter (CRL) requesting additional clinical data for the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Relistor injection for subcutaneous use for the treatment of OIC in adult patients with chronic, non-cancer pain. On October 5, an End-of-Review meeting was held with the FDA's Division of Gastroenterology and Inborn Errors Products to better understand the contents of the letter. The Division has expressed a concern that there may be a risk associated with the chronic use of mu-opioid antagonists in patients who are taking opioids for chronic pain. In order to understand this potential risk, the Division has communicated that a very large, well-controlled, chronic administration trial will have to be conducted to assess the safety of any mu-opioid antagonist prior to market approval for the treatment of patients with OIC who are taking opioids for chronic, non-cancer pain. Salix has held discussions with the Division and has expressed the view that the post-marketing, clinical and preclinical data currently available for Relistor adequately demonstrate an appropriate and expected safety profile sufficient to permit the approval of the current Relistor sNDA.Salix and Progenics plan to continue to work with the FDA to generate a reasonable path forward for the further development and regulatory review of Relistor that can be agreed upon by the parties. While it is not possible to determine definitively the duration of discussions with the FDA regarding this matter, at this time Salix and Progenics anticipate a path forward could be reached with the FDA during 2013. Progenics also has proprietary research and development programs for drug candidates focused on oncology. Our principal product candidate is PSMA ADC, a fully human monoclonal antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) directed against prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), a protein found at high levels on the surface of prostate cancer cells and also on the neovasculature of a number of other types of solid tumors. PSMA ADC is in phase 2 clinical study and we are considering as appropriate strategic collaborations with biopharmaceutical companies for this compound. We are also conducting preclinical development work on novel phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitors to block signaling pathways critical in the growth of aggressive cancers, and are seeking to in-license or acquire other complementary opportunities in the oncology field and supportive, diagnostic and/or other areas.As we have expanded our focus on oncology, we have terminated certain research efforts not within the Company's oncology focus, and are divesting or out-licensing others. In the third quarter we signed a non-binding term sheet, and are now in contract negotiations for disposition of our C. difficile program, and in October completed the divestment of the PRO 140 program, for which we received $3.5 million cash, together with rights to receive an additional $1.5 million upon commencement of a U.S. or ex-U.S. equivalent phase 3 trial of PRO 140, an additional $5.0 million upon U.S. or E.U. marketing approval of the drug, and a 5% royalty on net sales of approved product(s). Progenics also in the third quarter completed a companywide restructuring, including a workforce reduction and termination of several early stage research projects. Our clinical development and manufacturing capabilities were unaffected by this restructuring.Progenics commenced principal operations in 1988, became publicly traded in 1997 and throughout has been engaged primarily in research and development efforts, establishing corporate collaborations and related activities. All of our operations are conducted at our facilities in Tarrytown, New York. Relistor (methylnaltrexone bromide) subcutaneous injection is a first-in-class therapy for OIC which we developed over the course of the last decade and since 2008 has been approved for sale in the U.S. and over 50 other countries worldwide, including countries in the E.U., Canada and Australia. Under our Agreement with Salix, we are eligible to receive (i) a development milestone of up to $40.0 million upon U.S. marketing approval for subcutaneous Relistor in non-cancer pain patients (the proposed indication addressed in the CRL mentioned above), (ii) a development milestone of up to $50.0 million upon U.S. marketing approval of an oral formulation of Relistor, (iii) up to $200.0 million of commercialization milestone payments upon achievement of specified U.S. sales targets, (iv) royalties ranging from 15 to 19 percent of net sales by Salix and its affiliates, and (v) 60% of any upfront, milestone, reimbursement or other revenue (net of costs of goods sold, as defined, and territory-specific research and development expense reimbursement) Salix receives from sublicensees outside the U.S. (for which we have received $0.2 million to date). In the event that either marketing approval is subject to a Black Box Warning or Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS), payment of a substantial portion of the development milestone amount would be deferred, and subject, to achievement of the first commercialization milestone (payable upon annual U.S. sales first exceeding $100.0 million).Funding and Financial Matters. At September 30, 2012, we held $41.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, a $6.7 million decrease from the second quarter-end, and a $29.0 million decrease from year-end 2011. We expect that this amount will be sufficient to fund operations as currently anticipated beyond one year. We currently use cash on hand and royalty payments from Relistor to fund our ongoing operations. We expect to continue to use cash on hand and future Relistor royalties and other revenues, including any future development and/or commercialization milestones, as well as payments we may receive for licenses or other transactions involving other proprietary assets and programs, to fund our operations in the future. If we do not realize sufficient royalty or other revenue from Relistor, or are unable to enter into favorable collaboration, license, asset sale, capital raising or other financing transactions, we will have to reduce, delay or eliminate spending on certain programs, and/or reduce headcount and other overhead expenses.In April 2008, our Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program to acquire up to $15.0 million of our outstanding common shares, under which we have $12.3 million remaining available. Purchases may be discontinued at any time. We did not repurchase any common shares during the three or nine months ended September 30, 2012.Our interim Consolidated Financial Statements included in this report have been prepared in accordance with applicable presentation requirements, and accordingly do not include all information and disclosures necessary for a presentation of our financial position, results of operations and cash flows in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. ("GAAP"). In the opinion of management, these financial statements reflect all adjustments, consisting primarily of normal recurring accruals necessary for a fair statement of results for the periods presented. The results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results for the full year. Our interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011. The year-end consolidated balance sheet data in these financial statements were derived from audited financial statements, but do not include all disclosures required by GAAP. |

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The entire disclosure for organization, consolidation and basis of presentation of financial statements disclosure.
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