Collaborative Arrangements and Licensing Agreements, Satellite Company Collaborations - The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Details)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center [Member]
Collaborative Arrangement and Licensing Agreement [Abstract]
Term of collaboration agreement	5 years

Term of the collaboration agreement, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

No definition available.

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