Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011		Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2010 Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes 3.35 Percent Due 2015 D Y	Dec. 31, 2012 Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes 3.35 Percent Due 2015	Sep. 30, 2011 Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes 3.35 Percent Due 2015	Jan. 31, 2010 Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes (due 2013)	Dec. 31, 2010 Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes (due 2013) First quarter 2010 conversion	Dec. 31, 2009 Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes (due 2013) First quarter 2010 conversion
Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes
Convertible senior subordinated notes	$ 400,000,000	[1]	$ 400,000,000	[1]		$ 400,000,000		$ 400,000,000
Net proceeds from convertible debt offering	0		0		391,645,000	391,600,000
Underwriting discount						8,000,000
Debt issuance costs						400,000
Conversion price (in dollars per share)						$ 48.83
Original conversion rate, number of shares to be issued per $1000 of principal (in shares)						20.4794
Convertible debt principal amount, basis for exchange						1,000
Interest rate (as a percent)						3.35%	3.35%		4.75%
Percent closing price needs to exceed the conversion price for at least 20 trading days within 30 consecutive trading days for provisional redemption (as a percent)						130.00%
Minimum number of days within 30 consecutive trading days the closing price needs to exceed the conversion price for provisional redemption (in days)						20
Total consecutive trading days during which the closing price must exceed the conversion price for at least 20 trading days for provisional redemption (in days)						30
Percentage of principal amount used in computation of provisional redemption price (as a percent)						100.00%
Total interest payments on notes being provisionally redeemed equal to interest for specified number of years (in years)						3
Senior Notes											$ 32,100,000
Convertible subordinated notes exchanged or converted (in shares)										1,386,006

[1] Amounts include the assets and liabilities of Vertex’s variable interest entity (“VIE”), Alios BioPharma, Inc. (“Alios”). Vertex’s interests and obligations with respect to the VIE’s assets and liabilities are limited to those accorded to Vertex in its agreement with Alios. See Note B, "Collaborative Arrangements," to these consolidated financial statements for amounts.