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Restructuring Liabilities (Details)
12 Months Ended 3 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2003
Mar. 31, 2015
lease
sqft
Dec. 31, 2011
sqft
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]      
Area of real estate property (in square feet)     1,100,000us-gaap_AreaOfRealEstateProperty
Kendall Restructuring      
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]      
Lease term (in years) 15 years    
Restructuring and related activities, leased office space, maximum percentage used - not more than 50.00%vrtx_RestructuringandRelatedActivitiesLeasedOfficeSpaceMaximumPercentageUsed
/ us-gaap_RestructuringPlanAxis
= vrtx_KendallRestructuringMember
   
Fan Pier Move Restructuring      
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]      
Number of leases terminated   2vrtx_NumberOfLeaseTerminated
/ us-gaap_RestructuringPlanAxis
= vrtx_FanPierMoveMember
 
Area of real estate property (in square feet)   120,000us-gaap_AreaOfRealEstateProperty
/ us-gaap_RestructuringPlanAxis
= vrtx_FanPierMoveMember
 
Discount rate related to leases (percent)   9.00%vrtx_LeaseRestructuringLiabilityAccrualDiscountRate
/ us-gaap_RestructuringPlanAxis
= vrtx_FanPierMoveMember