Goodwill and intangible assets gross.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Goodwill and intangible assets net.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount of goodwill arising from a business combination, which is the excess of the cost of the acquired entity over the amounts assigned to assets acquired and liabilities assumed.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141

-Paragraph 52

-Subparagraph c

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141

-Paragraph 53

-Subparagraph d

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

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- Definition

Accumulated amount of amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 350

-SubTopic 30

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph (a)(1)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=7658586&loc=d3e16323-109275

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 142

-Paragraph 45

-Subparagraph a(1)

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

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- Definition

Amount before amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

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- Definition

Amount after amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

+ Details

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- Definition

Useful life of finite-lived intangible assets, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Carrying amount as of the balance sheet date, which is the cumulative amount paid and (if applicable) the fair value of any noncontrolling interest in the acquiree, adjusted for any amortization recognized prior to the adoption of any changes in generally accepted accounting principles (as applicable) and for any impairment charges, in excess of the fair value of net assets acquired in one or more business combination transactions.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 142

-Paragraph 45

-Subparagraph e

-Clause 1

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 350

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=14024403&loc=d3e13816-109267

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 350

-SubTopic 20

-Section 45

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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13770-109266

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141R

-Paragraph 68

-Subparagraph l

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141R

-Paragraph 34

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 142

-Paragraph 43

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 142

-Paragraph 45

-Subparagraph e

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141R

-Paragraph 72

-Subparagraph d

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

+ Details

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- Definition

Gross amount, as of the balance sheet date, of the cumulative amount paid and (if applicable) the fair value of any noncontrolling interest in the acquiree, adjusted for any amortization recognized prior to the adoption of any changes in generally accepted accounting principles (as applicable), in excess of the fair value of net assets acquired in one or more business combination transactions.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 350

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (a,h)

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Goodwill and Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $)							9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
Goodwill and Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Jan. 31, 2005 Inovio AS [Member]	Jun. 30, 2009 VGX [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Patents [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Patents [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Patents [Member] Maximum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Patents [Member] Minimum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Licenses [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Licenses [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Licenses [Member] Maximum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Licenses [Member] Minimum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 CELLECTRA [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 CELLECTRA [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 CELLECTRA [Member] Maximum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 CELLECTRA [Member] Minimum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 GHRH [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 GHRH [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Other [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Other [Member]
Schedule of intangible assets by major asset class
Useful Life (Yrs)							17 years	8 years			17 years	8 years			11 years	5 years	11 years		18 years
Non-Amortizing:
Goodwill, Gross	$ 10,113,371	$ 10,113,371
Goodwill, Net Book Value	10,113,371	10,113,371
Amortizing:
Intangible assets, Gross	19,617,873	19,617,873			5,802,528	5,802,528			1,323,761	1,323,761			8,106,270	8,106,270			335,314	335,314	4,050,000	4,050,000
Intangible assets, Accumulated Amortization	(11,678,132)	(10,307,388)			(4,775,995)	(4,526,488)			(1,039,683)	(1,018,122)			(4,031,844)	(3,124,680)			(105,610)	(81,848)	(1,725,000)	(1,556,250)
Intangible assets, Net Book Value	7,939,741	9,310,485			1,026,533	1,276,040			284,078	305,639			4,074,426	4,981,590			229,704	253,466	2,325,000	2,493,750
Total goodwill and intangible assets, Gross	29,731,244	29,731,244
Total goodwill and intangible assets, Net Book Value	18,053,112	19,423,856
Recorded goodwill on acquisition			$ 3,900,000	$ 6,200,000