The Company	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2022
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
The Company	1. THE COMPANY Organization Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (together with its subsidiaries, “Wave” or the “Company”) is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company committed to delivering life-changing treatments for people battling devastating diseases. PRISM, Wave’s proprietary discovery and drug development platform, enables the precise design, optimization and production of novel stereopure oligonucleotides. Wave has built a genetic toolkit comprised of multiple therapeutic modalities, including RNase-H mediated silencing, RNAi, splicing, and RNA base editing, all of which leverage learnings and optimizations from the PRISM platform and allow Wave to design built-for-purpose molecules to optimally address disease biology. The Company was incorporated in Singapore on July 23, 2012 and has its principal U.S. office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Company was incorporated with the purpose of combining two commonly held companies, Wave Life Sciences USA, Inc. (“Wave USA”), a Delaware corporation (formerly Ontorii, Inc.), and Wave Life Sciences Japan, Inc. (“Wave Japan”), a company organized under the laws of Japan (formerly Chiralgen., Ltd.), which occurred on September 13, 2012. On May 31, 2016, Wave Life Sciences Ireland Limited (“Wave Ireland”) was formed as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wave Life Sciences Ltd. On April 3, 2017, Wave Life Sciences UK Limited (“Wave UK”) was formed as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wave Life Sciences Ltd. The Company’s primary activities since inception have been developing and evolving PRISM to design, develop and commercialize oligonucleotide therapeutics, advancing the Company’s differentiated neurology portfolio, as well as exploring other therapeutic areas of interest, building the Company’s research, development and manufacturing capabilities, advancing programs into the clinic, furthering clinical development of such clinical-stage programs, building the Company’s intellectual property, and assuring adequate capital to support these activities. Liquidity Since its inception, the Company has not generated any product revenue and has incurred recurring net losses. To date, the Company has primarily funded its operations through private placements of debt and equity securities, public and other registered offerings of its equity securities and collaborations with third parties. Until the Company can generate significant revenue from product sales, if ever, the Company expects to continue to finance operations through a combination of public or private equity or debt financings or other sources, which may include collaborations with third parties. Adequate additional financing may not be available to the Company on acceptable terms, or at all. The inability to raise capital as and when needed would have a negative impact on the Company’s financial condition and ability to pursue its business strategy. As of June 30, 2022, the Company had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $148.2 million. The Company expects that its existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments will be sufficient to fund its operations for at least the next twelve months. The Company has based this expectation on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, and the Company may use its available capital resources sooner than it currently expects. If the Company’s anticipated operating results are not achieved in future periods, planned expenditures may need to be further reduced in order to extend the time period over which the then-available resources would be able to fund the Company’s operations. In addition, the Company may elect to raise additional funds before it needs them if the conditions for raising capital are favorable due to market conditions or strategic considerations, even if the Company expects it has sufficient funds for its current or future operating plans. Risks and Uncertainties The Company is subject to risks common to companies in the biotechnology industry including, but not limited to, new technological innovations, protection of proprietary technology, maintaining internal manufacturing capabilities, dependence on key personnel, compliance with government regulations and the need to obtain additional financing. The Company’s therapeutic programs will require significant additional research and development efforts, including extensive preclinical and clinical testing and regulatory approval, prior to commercialization of any product candidates. These efforts require significant amounts of additional capital, adequate personnel infrastructure and extensive compliance-reporting capabilities. There can be no assurance that the Company’s research and development efforts will be successful, that adequate protection for the Company’s intellectual property will be obtained, that any products developed will obtain necessary government regulatory approval or that any approved products will be commercially viable. Even if the Company’s product development efforts are successful, it is uncertain when, if ever, the Company will generate significant revenue from product sales. The Company operates in an environment of rapid change in technology and substantial competition from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Basis of Presentation The Company has prepared the accompanying consolidated financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) and in U.S. dollars.

The Company

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2022

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

1. THE COMPANY

Organization

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (together with its subsidiaries, “Wave” or the “Company”) is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company committed to delivering life-changing treatments for people battling devastating diseases. PRISM, Wave’s proprietary discovery and drug development platform, enables the precise design, optimization and production of novel stereopure oligonucleotides. Wave has built a genetic toolkit comprised of multiple therapeutic modalities, including RNase-H mediated silencing, RNAi, splicing, and RNA base editing, all of which leverage learnings and optimizations from the PRISM platform and allow Wave to design built-for-purpose molecules to optimally address disease biology.

The Company was incorporated in Singapore on July 23, 2012 and has its principal U.S. office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Company was incorporated with the purpose of combining two commonly held companies, Wave Life Sciences USA, Inc. (“Wave USA”), a Delaware corporation (formerly Ontorii, Inc.), and Wave Life Sciences Japan, Inc. (“Wave Japan”), a company organized under the laws of Japan (formerly Chiralgen., Ltd.), which occurred on September 13, 2012. On May 31, 2016, Wave Life Sciences Ireland Limited (“Wave Ireland”) was formed as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wave Life Sciences Ltd. On April 3, 2017, Wave Life Sciences UK Limited (“Wave UK”) was formed as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wave Life Sciences Ltd.

The Company’s primary activities since inception have been developing and evolving PRISM to design, develop and commercialize oligonucleotide therapeutics, advancing the Company’s differentiated neurology portfolio, as well as exploring other therapeutic areas of interest, building the Company’s research, development and manufacturing capabilities, advancing programs into the clinic, furthering clinical development of such clinical-stage programs, building the Company’s intellectual property, and assuring adequate capital to support these activities.

Liquidity

Since its inception, the Company has not generated any product revenue and has incurred recurring net losses. To date, the Company has primarily funded its operations through private placements of debt and equity securities, public and other registered offerings of its equity securities and collaborations with third parties. Until the Company can generate significant revenue from product sales, if ever, the Company expects to continue to finance operations through a combination of public or private equity or debt financings or other sources, which may include collaborations with third parties. Adequate additional financing may not be available to the Company on acceptable terms, or at all. The inability to raise capital as and when needed would have a negative impact on the Company’s financial condition and ability to pursue its business strategy.

As of June 30, 2022, the Company had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $148.2 million. The Company expects that its existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments will be sufficient to fund its operations for at least the next twelve months. The Company has based this expectation on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, and the Company may use its available capital resources sooner than it currently expects. If the Company’s anticipated operating results are not achieved in future periods, planned expenditures may need to be further reduced in order to extend the time period over which the then-available resources would be able to fund the Company’s operations. In addition, the Company may elect to raise additional funds before it needs them if the conditions for raising capital are favorable due to market conditions or strategic considerations, even if the Company expects it has sufficient funds for its current or future operating plans.

Risks and Uncertainties

The Company is subject to risks common to companies in the biotechnology industry including, but not limited to, new technological innovations, protection of proprietary technology, maintaining internal manufacturing capabilities, dependence on key personnel, compliance with government regulations and the need to obtain additional financing. The Company’s therapeutic programs will require significant additional research and development efforts, including extensive preclinical and clinical testing and regulatory approval, prior to commercialization of any product candidates. These efforts require significant amounts of additional capital, adequate personnel infrastructure and extensive compliance-reporting capabilities. There can be no assurance that the Company’s research and development efforts will be successful, that adequate protection for the Company’s intellectual property will be obtained, that any products developed will obtain necessary government regulatory approval or that any approved products will be commercially viable. Even if the Company’s product development efforts are successful, it is uncertain when, if ever, the Company will generate significant revenue from product sales. The Company operates in an environment of rapid change in technology and substantial competition from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Basis of Presentation

The Company has prepared the accompanying consolidated financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) and in U.S. dollars.