General form of registration statement for all companies including face-amount certificate companies

Revenue Received (Detail)

v2.4.1.9
Revenue Received (Detail) (USD $)
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013
Dec. 31, 2012
Research and Development Arrangement, Contract to Perform for Others [Line Items]    
Revenue from grant $ 2,547,382us-gaap_RevenueFromGrants $ 1,558,372us-gaap_RevenueFromGrants
Seventh Research Framework Program (FP7 Agreement) [Member]    
Research and Development Arrangement, Contract to Perform for Others [Line Items]    
Amounts received 2,915,559us-gaap_ResearchAndDevelopmentArrangementWithFederalGovernmentCustomerFundingToOffsetCostsIncurred
/ us-gaap_ProductOrServiceAxis
= pirs_SeventhResearchFrameworkProgramMember
 
Revenue from grant $ 2,430,358us-gaap_RevenueFromGrants
/ us-gaap_ProductOrServiceAxis
= pirs_SeventhResearchFrameworkProgramMember
$ 1,179,242us-gaap_RevenueFromGrants
/ us-gaap_ProductOrServiceAxis
= pirs_SeventhResearchFrameworkProgramMember