Restructuring Liability (Details)	1 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2003 Kendall Square Facility
Kendall Square Lease
Lease term (in years)	15 years
Discount rate, lease restructuring liability (as a percent)		10.00%

The credit-adjusted risk-free discount rate applied to the undiscounted amount of projected cash inflows and/or outflows to arrive at the present value of the lease restructuring liability recorded as of the balance sheet date.

No definition available.

Name:	vrtx_LeaseRestructuringLiabilityAccrualDiscountRate
Namespace Prefix:	vrtx_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant