Collaborative Arrangements and Licensing Agreements, Bicycle License Agreement (Details) - Bicycle Therapeutics [Member] - Subsequent Event [Member] $ in Millions	1 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2021 USD ($)
Collaborative Arrangement and Licensing Agreement [Abstract]
Payment made	$ 45
Trading restriction period under lock up agreement	1 year

Period after completion of initial public offering by an equity investee and restriction to sell equity holding in the investee, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

No definition available.

Name:	ions_LockUpAgreementTermOfTradingRestriction
Namespace Prefix:	ions_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration