Long Term Obligations	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
Long Term Obligations	Long Term Obligations Fan Pier Leases In 2011, the Company entered into two lease agreements, pursuant to which the Company leases approximately 1.1 million square feet of office and laboratory space in two buildings (the “Buildings”) at Fan Pier in Boston, Massachusetts (the “Fan Pier Leases”). The Company commenced lease payments in December 2013, and will make lease payments pursuant to the Fan Pier Leases through December 2028. The Company has an option to extend the term of the Fan Pier Leases for an additional 10 years. Because the Company was involved in the construction project, the Company was deemed for accounting purposes to be the owner of the Buildings during the construction period and recorded project construction costs incurred by the landlord. Upon completion of the Buildings, the Company evaluated the Fan Pier Leases and determined that the Fan Pier Leases did not meet the criteria for “sale-leaseback” treatment. Accordingly, the Company began depreciating the asset and incurring interest expense related to the financing obligation in 2013. The Company bifurcates its lease payments pursuant to the Fan Pier Leases into (i) a portion that is allocated to the Buildings and (ii) a portion that is allocated to the land on which the Buildings were constructed. The portion of the lease obligations allocated to the land is treated as an operating lease that commenced in 2011. The Company recorded interest expense of $60.1 million in 2017 and $60.2 million in each of 2016 and 2015. The Company recorded depreciation expense of $13.3 million in each of 2017, 2016 and 2015. In each of 2017, 2016 and 2015, the Company recorded rent expense of $6.5 million. Property and equipment, net, included $475.7 million and $489.0 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, related to construction costs for the Buildings. The carrying value of the construction financing lease obligation related to the Buildings, which excludes interest that will be imputed over the course of the Company’s lease agreement for the Buildings, was $472.1 million and $472.6 million, as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. San Diego Lease On December 2, 2015, the Company entered into a lease agreement for 3215 Merryfield Row, San Diego, California with ARE-SD Region No. 23, LLC. Pursuant to this agreement, the Company agreed to lease approximately 170,000 square feet of office and laboratory space in a building under construction in San Diego, California (“San Diego Lease”) for a term of 16 years. The Company expects base rent payments will commence in the second quarter of 2019. Pursuant to the San Diego Lease, during the initial 16-year term, the Company will pay an average of approximately $10.2 million per year in aggregate rent, exclusive of operating expenses. The Company has the option to extend the lease term for up to two additional five-year terms. Because the Company is involved in the construction project, the Company is deemed for accounting purposes to be the owner of the San Diego building during the construction period and recorded project construction costs incurred by the landlord. The Company bifurcates its lease payments pursuant to the San Diego Lease into (i) a portion that is allocated to the San Diego building and (ii) a portion that is allocated to the land on which the San Diego building was constructed. Although the Company will not begin making lease payments pursuant to the San Diego Lease until the commencement date, the portion of the lease obligation allocated to the land is treated for accounting purposes as an operating lease that commenced in the fourth quarter of 2016. Upon completion of the San Diego building, the Company will evaluate the San Diego Lease and determine if the San Diego Lease meets the criteria for “sale-leaseback” treatment. If the San Diego Lease meets the “sale-leaseback” criteria, the Company will remove the asset and the related liability from its consolidated balance sheet and treat the San Diego Lease as either an operating or a capital lease based on the Company’s assessment of the accounting guidance. The Company expects that upon completion of construction of the San Diego building the San Diego Lease will not meet the “sale-leaseback” criteria. If the San Diego Lease does not meet “sale-leaseback” criteria, the Company will treat the San Diego Lease as a financing obligation and will depreciate the asset over its estimated useful life. Property and equipment, net, included $94.6 million and $15.0 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, related to construction costs for the San Diego building. The carrying value of the construction financing lease obligation for the San Diego building was $87.4 million and $12.6 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Revolving Credit Facility In October 2016, the Company entered into a Credit Agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) with Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent and the lenders referred to therein. The Credit Agreement provides for a $500.0 million revolving facility, $300.0 million of which was drawn at closing (the “Loans”) and was repaid in February 2017. The Credit Agreement also provides that, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, the Company may request that the borrowing capacity under the Credit Agreement be increased by an additional $300.0 million. The Credit Agreement matures on October 13, 2021. The proceeds of the borrowing under the Credit Agreement were used primarily to repay the Company's existing indebtedness under the Macquarie Loan. The Loans will bear interest, at the Company's option, at either a base rate or a Eurodollar rate, in each case plus an applicable margin. Under the Credit Agreement, the applicable margins on base rate loans range from 0.75% to 1.50% and the applicable margins on Eurodollar loans range from 1.75% to 2.50%, in each case based on the Company's consolidated leverage ratio (the ratio of the Company's total consolidated debt to the Company's trailing twelve-month EBITDA). The Loans are guaranteed by certain of the Company's domestic subsidiaries and secured by substantially all of the Company's assets and the assets of the Company's domestic subsidiaries (excluding intellectual property, owned and leased real property and certain other excluded property) and by the equity interests of the Company's subsidiaries, subject to certain exceptions. Under the terms of the Credit Agreement, the Company must maintain, subject to certain limited exceptions, a consolidated leverage ratio of 3.00 to 1.00 and consolidated EBITDA of at least $200.0 million, in each case to be measured on a quarterly basis. The Credit Agreement contains customary representations and warranties and usual and customary affirmative and negative covenants. The Credit Agreement also contains customary events of default. In the case of a continuing event of default, the administrative agent would be entitled to exercise various remedies, including the acceleration of amounts due under outstanding loans. Term Loan In 2014, the Company entered into a credit agreement with the lenders party thereto, and Macquarie US Trading LLC (“Macquarie”), as administrative agent. The credit agreement provided for a $300.0 million senior secured term loan (“Macquarie Loan”). On October 13, 2016, the Company terminated and repaid all outstanding obligations under the Macquarie Loan. The Company incurred a charge of $2.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2016 related to a loss on extinguishment attributable to the Macquarie Loan that was recorded as “Interest expense, net” in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations. The Macquarie Loan initially bore interest at a rate of 7.2% per annum, which was reduced to 6.2% per annum based on the FDA’s approval of ORKAMBI and was reduced to a rate of LIBOR plus 5.0% per annum during the third year of the term. The Company incurred $5.3 million in fees paid to Macquarie that were recorded as a discount on the term loan and that were recorded as additional interest expense using the effective interest method over the term of the loan in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations.

Long Term Obligations

Fan Pier Leases

In 2011, the Company entered into two lease agreements, pursuant to which the Company leases approximately 1.1 million square feet of office and laboratory space in two buildings (the “Buildings”) at Fan Pier in Boston, Massachusetts (the “Fan Pier Leases”). The Company commenced lease payments in December 2013, and will make lease payments pursuant to the Fan Pier Leases through December 2028. The Company has an option to extend the term of the Fan Pier Leases for an additional 10 years.

Because the Company was involved in the construction project, the Company was deemed for accounting purposes to be the owner of the Buildings during the construction period and recorded project construction costs incurred by the landlord. Upon completion of the Buildings, the Company evaluated the Fan Pier Leases and determined that the Fan Pier Leases did not meet the criteria for “sale-leaseback” treatment. Accordingly, the Company began depreciating the asset and incurring interest expense related to the financing obligation in 2013. The Company bifurcates its lease payments pursuant to the Fan Pier Leases into (i) a portion that is allocated to the Buildings and (ii) a portion that is allocated to the land on which the Buildings were constructed. The portion of the lease obligations allocated to the land is treated as an operating lease that commenced in 2011. The Company recorded interest expense of $60.1 million in 2017 and $60.2 million in each of 2016 and 2015. The Company recorded depreciation expense of $13.3 million in each of 2017, 2016 and 2015. In each of 2017, 2016 and 2015, the Company recorded rent expense of $6.5 million.

Property and equipment, net, included $475.7 million and $489.0 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, related to construction costs for the Buildings. The carrying value of the construction financing lease obligation related to the Buildings, which excludes interest that will be imputed over the course of the Company’s lease agreement for the Buildings, was $472.1 million and $472.6 million, as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

San Diego Lease

On December 2, 2015, the Company entered into a lease agreement for 3215 Merryfield Row, San Diego, California with ARE-SD Region No. 23, LLC. Pursuant to this agreement, the Company agreed to lease approximately 170,000 square feet of office and laboratory space in a building under construction in San Diego, California (“San Diego Lease”) for a term of 16 years. The Company expects base rent payments will commence in the second quarter of 2019. Pursuant to the San Diego Lease, during the initial 16-year term, the Company will pay an average of approximately $10.2 million per year in aggregate rent, exclusive of operating expenses. The Company has the option to extend the lease term for up to two additional five-year terms.

Because the Company is involved in the construction project, the Company is deemed for accounting purposes to be the owner of the San Diego building during the construction period and recorded project construction costs incurred by the landlord. The Company bifurcates its lease payments pursuant to the San Diego Lease into (i) a portion that is allocated to the San Diego building and (ii) a portion that is allocated to the land on which the San Diego building was constructed. Although the Company will not begin making lease payments pursuant to the San Diego Lease until the commencement date, the portion of the lease obligation allocated to the land is treated for accounting purposes as an operating lease that commenced in the fourth quarter of 2016. Upon completion of the San Diego building, the Company will evaluate the San Diego Lease and determine if the San Diego Lease meets the criteria for “sale-leaseback” treatment. If the San Diego Lease meets the “sale-leaseback” criteria, the Company will remove the asset and the related liability from its consolidated balance sheet and treat the San Diego Lease as either an operating or a capital lease based on the Company’s assessment of the accounting guidance. The Company expects that upon completion of construction of the San Diego building the San Diego Lease will not meet the “sale-leaseback” criteria. If the San Diego Lease does not meet “sale-leaseback” criteria, the Company will treat the San Diego Lease as a financing obligation and will depreciate the asset over its estimated useful life.

Property and equipment, net, included $94.6 million and $15.0 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, related to construction costs for the San Diego building. The carrying value of the construction financing lease obligation for the San Diego building was $87.4 million and $12.6 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Revolving Credit Facility

In October 2016, the Company entered into a Credit Agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) with Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent and the lenders referred to therein. The Credit Agreement provides for a $500.0 million revolving facility, $300.0 million of which was drawn at closing (the “Loans”) and was repaid in February 2017. The Credit Agreement also provides that, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, the Company may request that the borrowing capacity under the Credit Agreement be increased by an additional $300.0 million. The Credit Agreement matures on October 13, 2021.

The proceeds of the borrowing under the Credit Agreement were used primarily to repay the Company's existing indebtedness under the Macquarie Loan. The Loans will bear interest, at the Company's option, at either a base rate or a Eurodollar rate, in each case plus an applicable margin. Under the Credit Agreement, the applicable margins on base rate loans range from 0.75% to 1.50% and the applicable margins on Eurodollar loans range from 1.75% to 2.50%, in each case based on the Company's consolidated leverage ratio (the ratio of the Company's total consolidated debt to the Company's trailing twelve-month EBITDA).

The Loans are guaranteed by certain of the Company's domestic subsidiaries and secured by substantially all of the Company's assets and the assets of the Company's domestic subsidiaries (excluding intellectual property, owned and leased real property and certain other excluded property) and by the equity interests of the Company's subsidiaries, subject to certain exceptions. Under the terms of the Credit Agreement, the Company must maintain, subject to certain limited exceptions, a consolidated leverage ratio of 3.00 to 1.00 and consolidated EBITDA of at least $200.0 million, in each case to be measured on a quarterly basis.

The Credit Agreement contains customary representations and warranties and usual and customary affirmative and negative covenants. The Credit Agreement also contains customary events of default. In the case of a continuing event of default, the administrative agent would be entitled to exercise various remedies, including the acceleration of amounts due under outstanding loans.

Term Loan

In 2014, the Company entered into a credit agreement with the lenders party thereto, and Macquarie US Trading LLC (“Macquarie”), as administrative agent. The credit agreement provided for a $300.0 million senior secured term loan (“Macquarie Loan”). On October 13, 2016, the Company terminated and repaid all outstanding obligations under the Macquarie Loan. The Company incurred a charge of $2.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2016 related to a loss on extinguishment attributable to the Macquarie Loan that was recorded as “Interest expense, net” in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations.

The Macquarie Loan initially bore interest at a rate of 7.2% per annum, which was reduced to 6.2% per annum based on the FDA’s approval of ORKAMBI and was reduced to a rate of LIBOR plus 5.0% per annum during the third year of the term. The Company incurred $5.3 million in fees paid to Macquarie that were recorded as a discount on the term loan and that were recorded as additional interest expense using the effective interest method over the term of the loan in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations.