Description of Business and Basis of Financial Statements	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Description of Business and Basis of Financial Statements	Description of Business and Basis of Financial Statements Description of Business We are a biotherapeutic company focused on developing a cell-based therapy targeting the treatment of liver failure. Our product candidate, the ELAD^® System, or ELAD, is an extracorporeal human allogeneic cellular liver therapy designed to allow the patient’s own liver to regenerate to a healthy state, or to stabilize the patient until transplant. Since inception, we have devoted essentially all of our efforts to product development, clinical testing and pilot manufacturing and have not recognized revenues from our planned principal operations. In August 2015, we reported that our VTI-208 phase 3 clinical trial of ELAD in alcohol-induced liver decompensation, or AILD, failed to reach its primary or secondary endpoints, although medically pertinent pre-specified subsets based on age and disease severity did show trends toward efficacy. Considering the results of the VTI-208 clinical trial and in an effort to focus our personnel and financial resources, we also discontinued our VTI-210 and VTI-212 clinical trials. We have begun to open sites for our new phase 3 clinical trial of ELAD, known as VTL-308, in severe acute alcoholic hepatitis based on our analysis of the results of the VTI-208 clinical trial. Our business, operating results, financial condition and growth prospects are subject to significant risks and uncertainties including the failure of our clinical trials to meet their endpoints, failure to obtain regulatory approval to commercialize ELAD and failure to secure additional funding to complete the clinical testing, development and commercialization of ELAD. Unaudited Interim Financial Information The results for the three months ended March 31, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2016 or any other future interim period or year. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2015, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, on March 8, 2016. Basis of Presentation and Consolidation The accompanying unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, and the rules and regulations of the SEC related to a quarterly report on Form 10-Q. Certain information and note disclosures normally included in annual financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to those rules and regulations. The condensed consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2015 included in this report has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the annual audited consolidated financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments that are necessary for a fair statement of the financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. All such adjustments are of a normal and recurring nature. The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Vital Therapies, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries located in the United Kingdom (currently inactive) and China. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. We manage our operations as a single reportable segment for the purposes of assessing performance and making operating decisions.

Description of Business and Basis of Financial Statements

Description of Business

We are a biotherapeutic company focused on developing a cell-based therapy targeting the treatment of liver failure. Our product candidate, the ELAD^® System, or ELAD, is an extracorporeal human allogeneic cellular liver therapy designed to allow the patient’s own liver to regenerate to a healthy state, or to stabilize the patient until transplant. Since inception, we have devoted essentially all of our efforts to product development, clinical testing and pilot manufacturing and have not recognized revenues from our planned principal operations. In August 2015, we reported that our VTI-208 phase 3 clinical trial of ELAD in alcohol-induced liver decompensation, or AILD, failed to reach its primary or secondary endpoints, although medically pertinent pre-specified subsets based on age and disease severity did show trends toward efficacy. Considering the results of the VTI-208 clinical trial and in an effort to focus our personnel and financial resources, we also discontinued our VTI-210 and VTI-212 clinical trials. We have begun to open sites for our new phase 3 clinical trial of ELAD, known as VTL-308, in severe acute alcoholic hepatitis based on our analysis of the results of the VTI-208 clinical trial. Our business, operating results, financial condition and growth prospects are subject to significant risks and uncertainties including the failure of our clinical trials to meet their endpoints, failure to obtain regulatory approval to commercialize ELAD and failure to secure additional funding to complete the clinical testing, development and commercialization of ELAD.

Unaudited Interim Financial Information

The results for the three months ended March 31, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2016 or any other future interim period or year. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2015, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, on March 8, 2016.

Basis of Presentation and Consolidation

The accompanying unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, and the rules and regulations of the SEC related to a quarterly report on Form 10-Q. Certain information and note disclosures normally included in annual financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to those rules and regulations. The condensed consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2015 included in this report has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the annual audited consolidated financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments that are necessary for a fair statement of the financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. All such adjustments are of a normal and recurring nature.

The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Vital Therapies, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries located in the United Kingdom (currently inactive) and China. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. We manage our operations as a single reportable segment for the purposes of assessing performance and making operating decisions.