Description of Business	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2013
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Description of Business	NOTE 1 — DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS Medivation, Inc. (the “Company” or “Medivation”) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the rapid development and commercialization of novel therapies to treat serious diseases for which there are limited treatment options. The Company selects technologies for development that meet three primary criteria, namely, the technology has: (a) in the judgment of the Company’s scientific leadership, an above-average likelihood of working; (b) strong intellectual property and/or data exclusivity protection; and (c) the ability to target one or more serious diseases for which existing technologies are suboptimal. When selecting technologies for development, the Company focuses primarily on those that it believes have the ability to enter human studies within 12-18 months. The Company considers technologies without regard to therapeutic indication or therapeutic modality (i.e., small molecules, biologics, medical devices, etc). The Company may develop technologies through its own internal research activities, or in-license technologies from academic institutions or other third parties. Once the Company selects a technology for development, it seeks to advance it quickly, strategically and cost-effectively to commercialization. The Company’s commercialization strategy for any of its product candidates that receive marketing approval will vary depending on the target customer base for that product candidate, the Company’s then current commercial capabilities, the extent to which the Company deems it prudent and cost-effective to build additional internal capabilities, and the availability, quality and cost of third-party commercialization partners. The Company’s most advanced program is XTANDI^® (enzalutamide) capsules, or XTANDI, which is partnered with Astellas Pharma Inc., or Astellas. The Company in-licensed the intellectual property rights covering XTANDI in 2005, began its first clinical trial in 2007, entered into a collaboration agreement with Astellas in 2009, reported positive Phase 3 overall survival data in 2011 in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, or mCRPC, who have previously received docetaxel, or post-chemotherapy mCRPC patients, and on August 31, 2012, received regulatory approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, for the treatment of post-chemotherapy mCRPC patients. The Company and Astellas began co-promoting XTANDI for that indication in the United States on September 13, 2012. On June 24, 2013, the Company announced that XTANDI was granted marketing authorization in the European Union, or EU, for the treatment of adult men with mCRPC whose disease has progressed on or after docetaxel therapy. In addition, XTANDI is approved in Puerto Rico, Canada, South Korea, Argentina, Norway, Iceland, and Lichtenstein for the post-docetaxel indication and marketing applications for this indication are under review in Japan and multiple other countries worldwide. In October 2013, the Company reported positive results from a planned interim analysis of overall survival and the primary analysis of radiographic progression-free survival from its global Phase 3 PREVAIL trial of enzalutamide in more than 1,700 men with metastatic prostate cancer that had progressed despite androgen deprivation therapy and who have not yet received chemotherapy, or pre-chemotherapy mCRPC. The Independent Data Monitoring Committee, or IDMC, overseeing the PREVAIL trial, concluded that enzalutamide demonstrated a favorable benefit-risk ratio and recommended the study be stopped early and patients treated with placebo be offered enzalutamide. Together with Astellas, the Company is also conducting multiple trials of enzalutamide in earlier prostate cancer disease states and in patients with breast cancer. The Company also has ongoing programs with other agents in multiple different indications in early stages of research and development. These early-stage programs are unpartnered. In January 2012, the Company’s former collaboration partner Pfizer, Inc., or Pfizer, exercised its right to terminate the Company’s collaboration agreement for the development and commercialization of the Company’s former product candidate dimebon for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington disease, due to negative Phase 3 trial results in both indications. The Company and Pfizer discontinued development of dimebon for all indications in January 2012, and completed the wind-down of each of its respective remaining collaboration activities in the third quarter of 2012. The Company has funded its operations primarily through public offerings of its common stock, the issuance of 2.625% convertible senior notes due April 1, 2017, or the Convertible Notes, from up-front, development milestone and cost-sharing payments under its collaboration agreement with Astellas, or the Astellas Collaboration Agreement, and its former collaboration agreement with Pfizer and, subsequent to September 13, 2012, from collaboration revenue attributable to XTANDI sales. The Company has incurred cumulative net losses of $336.9 million through September 30, 2013, and expects to incur substantial additional losses for the foreseeable future as it continues to finance the commercialization of XTANDI in the U.S. market, clinical and preclinical studies of enzalutamide and the Company’s early-stage technologies, and its corporate overhead costs. The Company does not know when, or if, it will become profitable, or whether XTANDI will be approved for sale in any other country or for any other indications.

NOTE 1 — DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

Medivation, Inc. (the “Company” or “Medivation”) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the rapid development and commercialization of novel therapies to treat serious diseases for which there are limited treatment options. The Company selects technologies for development that meet three primary criteria, namely, the technology has: (a) in the judgment of the Company’s scientific leadership, an above-average likelihood of working; (b) strong intellectual property and/or data exclusivity protection; and (c) the ability to target one or more serious diseases for which existing technologies are suboptimal. When selecting technologies for development, the Company focuses primarily on those that it believes have the ability to enter human studies within 12-18 months. The Company considers technologies without regard to therapeutic indication or therapeutic modality (i.e., small molecules, biologics, medical devices, etc). The Company may develop technologies through its own internal research activities, or in-license technologies from academic institutions or other third parties. Once the Company selects a technology for development, it seeks to advance it quickly, strategically and cost-effectively to commercialization. The Company’s commercialization strategy for any of its product candidates that receive marketing approval will vary depending on the target customer base for that product candidate, the Company’s then current commercial capabilities, the extent to which the Company deems it prudent and cost-effective to build additional internal capabilities, and the availability, quality and cost of third-party commercialization partners.

The Company’s most advanced program is XTANDI^® (enzalutamide) capsules, or XTANDI, which is partnered with Astellas Pharma Inc., or Astellas. The Company in-licensed the intellectual property rights covering XTANDI in 2005, began its first clinical trial in 2007, entered into a collaboration agreement with Astellas in 2009, reported positive Phase 3 overall survival data in 2011 in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, or mCRPC, who have previously received docetaxel, or post-chemotherapy mCRPC patients, and on August 31, 2012, received regulatory approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, for the treatment of post-chemotherapy mCRPC patients. The Company and Astellas began co-promoting XTANDI for that indication in the United States on September 13, 2012. On June 24, 2013, the Company announced that XTANDI was granted marketing authorization in the European Union, or EU, for the treatment of adult men with mCRPC whose disease has progressed on or after docetaxel therapy. In addition, XTANDI is approved in Puerto Rico, Canada, South Korea, Argentina, Norway, Iceland, and Lichtenstein for the post-docetaxel indication and marketing applications for this indication are under review in Japan and multiple other countries worldwide.

In October 2013, the Company reported positive results from a planned interim analysis of overall survival and the primary analysis of radiographic progression-free survival from its global Phase 3 PREVAIL trial of enzalutamide in more than 1,700 men with metastatic prostate cancer that had progressed despite androgen deprivation therapy and who have not yet received chemotherapy, or pre-chemotherapy mCRPC. The Independent Data Monitoring Committee, or IDMC, overseeing the PREVAIL trial, concluded that enzalutamide demonstrated a favorable benefit-risk ratio and recommended the study be stopped early and patients treated with placebo be offered enzalutamide.

Together with Astellas, the Company is also conducting multiple trials of enzalutamide in earlier prostate cancer disease states and in patients with breast cancer. The Company also has ongoing programs with other agents in multiple different indications in early stages of research and development. These early-stage programs are unpartnered.

In January 2012, the Company’s former collaboration partner Pfizer, Inc., or Pfizer, exercised its right to terminate the Company’s collaboration agreement for the development and commercialization of the Company’s former product candidate dimebon for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington disease, due to negative Phase 3 trial results in both indications. The Company and Pfizer discontinued development of dimebon for all indications in January 2012, and completed the wind-down of each of its respective remaining collaboration activities in the third quarter of 2012.

The Company has funded its operations primarily through public offerings of its common stock, the issuance of 2.625% convertible senior notes due April 1, 2017, or the Convertible Notes, from up-front, development milestone and cost-sharing payments under its collaboration agreement with Astellas, or the Astellas Collaboration Agreement, and its former collaboration agreement with Pfizer and, subsequent to September 13, 2012, from collaboration revenue attributable to XTANDI sales. The Company has incurred cumulative net losses of $336.9 million through September 30, 2013, and expects to incur substantial additional losses for the foreseeable future as it continues to finance the commercialization of XTANDI in the U.S. market, clinical and preclinical studies of enzalutamide and the Company’s early-stage technologies, and its corporate overhead costs. The Company does not know when, or if, it will become profitable, or whether XTANDI will be approved for sale in any other country or for any other indications.