2.2.0.7 false Nature of Business 0201 - Disclosure - Nature of Business true false false false 1 USD false false USD Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 0 USDEPS Divide http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares xbrli 0 Shares Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares xbrli 0 $ 2 Nature of Business [Abstract] 0 us-gaap_GeneralPoliciesAbstract us-gaap true na duration No definition available. false false false false false true false false false false false false 1 false false false false 0 0 false false false xbrli:stringItemType string No definition available. false 3 Nature of Business 1 us-gaap_NatureOfOperations us-gaap true na duration No definition available. false false false false false false false false false false false verboselabel false 1 false false false false 0 0   <div align="left" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">   <div align="center" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt"><b></b> </div> <div align="center" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt"><b></b> </div> <div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt"><sup style="font-size: 85%; vertical-align: text-top"></sup><sup style="font-size: 85%; vertical-align: text-top"></sup><sup style="font-size: 85%; vertical-align: text-top"></sup><sup style="font-size: 85%; vertical-align: text-top"></sup> </div> <div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 12pt"><b>1. Nature of Business</b> </div> <div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 6pt">     The Medicines Company (the Company) is a global pharmaceutical company focused on advancing the treatment of intensive and critical care patients through the delivery of innovative, cost-effective medicines to the worldwide hospital marketplace. The Company has two marketed products, Angiomax<sup style="font-size: 85%; vertical-align: text-top">®</sup> (bivalirudin) and Cleviprex<sup style="font-size: 85%; vertical-align: text-top">®</sup> (clevidipine butyrate) injectable emulsion, and a pipeline of critical care hospital products in development, including two late-stage development product candidates, cangrelor and oritavancin, two early stage development product candidates, CU2010 (which the Company has re-designated MDCO-2010) and ApoA-I Milano (which the Company has re-designated MDCO-216), and marketing rights in the United States and Canada to a ready-to-use formulation of Argatroban for which a new drug application (NDA) has been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Company believes that Angiomax, Cleviprex and its products in development possess favorable attributes that competitive products do not provide, can satisfy unmet medical needs in the critical care hospital product market and offer, or, in the case of the Company’s products in development, have the potential to offer, improved performance to patients and hospital businesses. </div> </div>  <!-- Begin Block Tagged Note false false false us-types:textBlockItemType textblock Describes the nature of an entity's business, the major products or services it sells or provides and its principal markets, including the locations of those markets. If the entity operates in more than one business, the disclosure also indicates the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination (for example, assets, revenues, or earnings). Disclosures about the nature of operations need not be quantified; relative importance could be conveyed by use of terms such as "predominately", "about equally", or "major and other". This element is also referred to as "Business Description". Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher AICPA -Name Statement of Position (SOP) -Number 94-6 -Paragraph 10 false 1 2 false UnKnown UnKnown UnKnown false true