Document and Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Oct. 31, 2016
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Trading symbol	EBIO
Entity registrant name	Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Entity central index key	0001485003
Current fiscal year end date	--12-31
Entity filer category	Non-accelerated Filer
Document type	10-Q
Document period end date	Sep. 30, 2016
Document fiscal year focus	2016
Document fiscal period focus	Q3
Amendment flag	false
Entity common stock, shares outstanding (in shares)		24,238,369