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Long-term Obligations - Fan Pier Leases (Details) (USD $)
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
building
lease
sqft
Mar. 31, 2015
Dec. 31, 2014
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]      
Number of leases 2vrtx_LeaseAgreementNumberOfLeases    
Area of real estate property (in square feet) 1,100,000us-gaap_AreaOfRealEstateProperty    
Number of buildings under lease agreement 2vrtx_LeaseAgreementsNumberOfBuildings    
Optional term of lease agreement (in years) 10 years    
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net   $ 708,616,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentNet $ 715,812,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentNet
Construction financing lease obligation, current and noncurrent   473,300,000vrtx_Constructionfinancingleaseobligationcurrentandnoncurrent 473,400,000vrtx_Constructionfinancingleaseobligationcurrentandnoncurrent
Building [Member]      
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]      
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net   $ 512,300,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentNet
/ us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis
= us-gaap_BuildingMember
$ 515,000,000us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentNet
/ us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis
= us-gaap_BuildingMember