Note 1 - Business	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2014
Disclosure Text Block [Abstract]
Business Description and Basis of Presentation [Text Block]	1. Business Heron Therapeutics, Inc. (formerly A.P. Pharma, Inc.) (the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our”) is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing product candidates using its proprietary Biochronomer™ polymer-based drug delivery platform. This drug delivery platform is designed to improve the therapeutic profile of injectable pharmaceuticals by converting them from products that must be injected once or twice per day to products that need to be injected only once every one or two weeks. Our lead product candidate, SUSTOL^TM (formerly known as APF530), is being developed for the prevention of acute chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (“CINV”) for patients undergoing both moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapy and for the prevention of delayed CINV for patients undergoing moderately emetogenic chemotherapy. One of the most debilitating side effects of cancer chemotherapy, CINV is a leading cause of premature discontinuation of treatment. There is only one injectable 5-HT3 antagonist approved for the prevention of delayed-onset CINV, so this indication represents an area of particular unmet medical need. SUSTOL contains the 5-HT3 antagonist granisetron formulated in our proprietary Biochronomer polymer-based drug delivery platform, which allows therapeutic drug levels to be maintained for five days with a single subcutaneous injection. This five-day range is designed to cover the delayed phase of CINV. Granisetron was selected for SUSTOL because it is widely prescribed by physicians based on a well-established record of safety and efficacy. In May 2009, we filed the original New Drug Application (“NDA”) seeking approval for SUSTOL with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). The FDA issued a Complete Response Letter for the SUSTOL NDA in March 2010. In September 2012, we resubmitted our NDA for SUSTOL and, in March 2013, we received a second Complete Response Letter, which identified several remaining issues that need to be addressed prior to approval of the SUSTOL NDA. We are currently working on addressing these issues and expect to resubmit the SUSTOL NDA in mid-2014. We own the worldwide rights to SUSTOL and are in the early stages of building the commercial infrastructure necessary to commercialize SUSTOL in the U.S. on our own, assuming approval by the FDA. In addition, to resubmitting the SUSTOL NDA, we are seeking to expand the labeled indication for SUSTOL following its potential approval. In 2014, we initiated a Phase 3 clinical study with SUSTOL for the prevention of delayed CINV in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy, an indication for which no 5-HT3 antagonist is approved. The 1,000 patient study is expected to be completed in late 2014. Our core Biochronomer technology, on which SUSTOL and our other product candidates are based, consists of bioerodible polymers designed to release drugs over a defined period of time. We have completed over 100 in vivo and in vitro studies demonstrating that our Biochronomer technology is potentially applicable to a range of therapeutic areas, including, among others, prevention of CINV, pain management and control of inflammation. We have also completed comprehensive animal and human toxicology studies that have established that our Biochronomer polymers are safe and well tolerated. Furthermore, our Biochronomer technology can be designed to deliver drugs over periods varying from days to potentially multiple weeks. We are exploring the potential use of our Biochronomer polymer with other drugs and intend to pursue the clinical development of one or more other drug candidates based on our proprietary delivery platform. In November 2013, we initiated a program to expand our pipeline of sustained-release products, including a new program targeting the relief of post-surgical pain. Preliminary animal studies indicate that formulations using our Biochronomer polymer-based drug delivery platform provided sustained analgesic effects for three to five days. We plan to formalize optimization in 2014 and initiate a Phase 1 study in mid-2014. As of 2012, approximately 25 million¹ procedures associated with post-operative pain were conducted in the U.S. In addition, post-operative pain market sales were approximately $3.1 billion² in 2012. In January 2014, we changed our name from A.P. Pharma, Inc. to Heron Therapeutics, Inc. Effective January 13, 2014, we effected a 1-for-20 reverse split of our outstanding common stock (“Reverse Stock Split”) (See Note 5). All historical share and per share amounts have been adjusted to reflect the Reverse Stock Split. All stock options, convertible notes and warrants outstanding were appropriately adjusted to give effect to the Reverse Stock Split. Liquidity We have incurred significant operating losses and negative cash flows from operations and we have an accumulated deficit of $256.4 million as of March 31, 2014. During 2011, 2012 and 2013, we completed a total of four rounds of equity and/or debt financings, which provided us with cash of approximately $135.4 million, net of issuance costs, to fund operations (see Notes 4 and 5). As of March 31, 2014, we had cash on hand of $57.5 million. We believe that our current working capital is sufficient to fund essential operations into 2015; provided, however, that if we pursue additional clinical studies prior to 2015 or begin preparations for potential commercialization of SUSTOL, we will need to raise additional capital. We may require additional capital to fund our development pipeline programs. If we are unable to obtain sufficient financing on acceptable terms or otherwise, we may be required to reduce or defer our activities.

Note 1 - Business

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Business Description and Basis of Presentation [Text Block]

1. Business

Heron Therapeutics, Inc. (formerly A.P. Pharma, Inc.) (the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our”) is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing product candidates using its proprietary Biochronomer™ polymer-based drug delivery platform. This drug delivery platform is designed to improve the therapeutic profile of injectable pharmaceuticals by converting them from products that must be injected once or twice per day to products that need to be injected only once every one or two weeks.

Our lead product candidate, SUSTOL^TM (formerly known as APF530), is being developed for the prevention of acute chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (“CINV”) for patients undergoing both moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapy and for the prevention of delayed CINV for patients undergoing moderately emetogenic chemotherapy. One of the most debilitating side effects of cancer chemotherapy, CINV is a leading cause of premature discontinuation of treatment. There is only one injectable 5-HT3 antagonist approved for the prevention of delayed-onset CINV, so this indication represents an area of particular unmet medical need. SUSTOL contains the 5-HT3 antagonist granisetron formulated in our proprietary Biochronomer polymer-based drug delivery platform, which allows therapeutic drug levels to be maintained for five days with a single subcutaneous injection. This five-day range is designed to cover the delayed phase of CINV. Granisetron was selected for SUSTOL because it is widely prescribed by physicians based on a well-established record of safety and efficacy.

In May 2009, we filed the original New Drug Application (“NDA”) seeking approval for SUSTOL with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). The FDA issued a Complete Response Letter for the SUSTOL NDA in March 2010. In September 2012, we resubmitted our NDA for SUSTOL and, in March 2013, we received a second Complete Response Letter, which identified several remaining issues that need to be addressed prior to approval of the SUSTOL NDA. We are currently working on addressing these issues and expect to resubmit the SUSTOL NDA in mid-2014.

We own the worldwide rights to SUSTOL and are in the early stages of building the commercial infrastructure necessary to commercialize SUSTOL in the U.S. on our own, assuming approval by the FDA.

In addition, to resubmitting the SUSTOL NDA, we are seeking to expand the labeled indication for SUSTOL following its potential approval. In 2014, we initiated a Phase 3 clinical study with SUSTOL for the prevention of delayed CINV in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy, an indication for which no 5-HT3 antagonist is approved. The 1,000 patient study is expected to be completed in late 2014.

Our core Biochronomer technology, on which SUSTOL and our other product candidates are based, consists of bioerodible polymers designed to release drugs over a defined period of time. We have completed over 100 in vivo and in vitro studies demonstrating that our Biochronomer technology is potentially applicable to a range of therapeutic areas, including, among others, prevention of CINV, pain management and control of inflammation. We have also completed comprehensive animal and human toxicology studies that have established that our Biochronomer polymers are safe and well tolerated. Furthermore, our Biochronomer technology can be designed to deliver drugs over periods varying from days to potentially multiple weeks. We are exploring the potential use of our Biochronomer polymer with other drugs and intend to pursue the clinical development of one or more other drug candidates based on our proprietary delivery platform.

In November 2013, we initiated a program to expand our pipeline of sustained-release products, including a new program targeting the relief of post-surgical pain. Preliminary animal studies indicate that formulations using our Biochronomer polymer-based drug delivery platform provided sustained analgesic effects for three to five days. We plan to formalize optimization in 2014 and initiate a Phase 1 study in mid-2014. As of 2012, approximately 25 million¹ procedures associated with post-operative pain were conducted in the U.S. In addition, post-operative pain market sales were approximately $3.1 billion² in 2012.

In January 2014, we changed our name from A.P. Pharma, Inc. to Heron Therapeutics, Inc. Effective January 13, 2014, we effected a 1-for-20 reverse split of our outstanding common stock (“Reverse Stock Split”) (See Note 5). All historical share and per share amounts have been adjusted to reflect the Reverse Stock Split. All stock options, convertible notes and warrants outstanding were appropriately adjusted to give effect to the Reverse Stock Split.

Liquidity

We have incurred significant operating losses and negative cash flows from operations and we have an accumulated deficit of $256.4 million as of March 31, 2014. During 2011, 2012 and 2013, we completed a total of four rounds of equity and/or debt financings, which provided us with cash of approximately $135.4 million, net of issuance costs, to fund operations (see Notes 4 and 5). As of March 31, 2014, we had cash on hand of $57.5 million.

We believe that our current working capital is sufficient to fund essential operations into 2015; provided, however, that if we pursue additional clinical studies prior to 2015 or begin preparations for potential commercialization of SUSTOL, we will need to raise additional capital. We may require additional capital to fund our development pipeline programs. If we are unable to obtain sufficient financing on acceptable terms or otherwise, we may be required to reduce or defer our activities.