ALLIANCES AND COLLABORATIONS (AstraZeneca) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended						3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012 ONGLYZA KOMBIGLYZE [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 ONGLYZA KOMBIGLYZE [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 ONGLYZA KOMBIGLYZE [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 ONGLYZA KOMBIGLYZE [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 AstraZeneca [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 AstraZeneca [Member] ONGLYZA KOMBIGLYZE [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 AstraZeneca [Member] ONGLYZA KOMBIGLYZE [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 AstraZeneca [Member] ONGLYZA KOMBIGLYZE [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 AstraZeneca [Member] ONGLYZA KOMBIGLYZE [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 AstraZeneca [Member] ONGLYZA KOMBIGLYZE [Member] Upfront, milestone and other licensing payments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 AstraZeneca [Member] ONGLYZA KOMBIGLYZE [Member] Upfront, milestone and other licensing payments [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 AstraZeneca [Member] dapagliflozin [Member] Upfront, milestone and other licensing payments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 AstraZeneca [Member] dapagliflozin [Member] Upfront, milestone and other licensing payments [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 AstraZeneca [Member] ONGLYZA, KOMBIGLYZE and dapagliflozin [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 AstraZeneca [Member] ONGLYZA, KOMBIGLYZE and dapagliflozin [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 AstraZeneca [Member] ONGLYZA, KOMBIGLYZE and dapagliflozin [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 AstraZeneca [Member] ONGLYZA, KOMBIGLYZE and dapagliflozin [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 AstraZeneca [Member] ONGLYZA, KOMBIGLYZE and dapagliflozin [Member] Upfront, milestone and other licensing payments [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 AstraZeneca [Member] ONGLYZA, KOMBIGLYZE and dapagliflozin [Member] Upfront, milestone and other licensing payments [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 AstraZeneca [Member] ONGLYZA, KOMBIGLYZE and dapagliflozin [Member] Upfront, milestone and other licensing payments [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 AstraZeneca [Member] ONGLYZA, KOMBIGLYZE and dapagliflozin [Member] Upfront, milestone and other licensing payments [Member]
Alliances and Collaborations Statement [Line Items]
Total upfront, milestone and other licensing payments														$ 300,000,000		$ 170,000,000
Net sales	4,443,000,000	5,434,000,000	9,694,000,000	10,445,000,000	172,000,000	112,000,000	333,000,000	193,000,000		172,000,000	112,000,000	333,000,000	193,000,000
Profit sharing expense										77,000,000	52,000,000	150,000,000	90,000,000
Commercialization expense reimbursements to/(from) alliance partner										(7,000,000)	(10,000,000)	(19,000,000)	(19,000,000)
Research and development reimbursements to/(from) collaboration partner																		6,000,000	15,000,000	10,000,000	29,000,000
Amortization income - upfront, milestone and other licensing payments																						(11,000,000)	(10,000,000)	(21,000,000)	(18,000,000)
Deferred income														217,000,000	230,000,000	134,000,000	142,000,000
Payment to be made by a collaboration partner to enter into collaboration agreements									3,400,000,000
Payment to be made by a collaboration partner to establish equal governance rights in the collaboration									$ 135,000,000