Long-term Obligations - San Diego Lease (Details) - San Diego Lease ft² in Thousands, $ in Millions	Dec. 02, 2015 USD ($) ft² term_extension	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Area of real estate property (in square feet) \| ft²	170
Length of lease	16 years
Average yearly aggregate rent	$ 10.2
Amount of optional renewal terms \| term_extension	2
Optional renewal term length	5 years
Capital leased assets		$ 28.9	$ 15.0

Area of a real estate property.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_AreaOfRealEstateProperty
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:areaItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount before accumulated depreciation of leased physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 840
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6455314&loc=d3e45014-112735

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of Optional Renewal Terms

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	vrtx_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Average Yearly Aggregate Rent, Exclusive of Operating Expenses

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	vrtx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Lessee Leasing Arrangements, Capital Leases, Renewal Term

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	vrtx_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Lessee Leasing Arrangements, Capital Leases, Term of Contract

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	vrtx_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: