Business	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Business	Business La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (collectively with its wholly-owned subsidiaries, the Company) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative therapies intended to significantly improve outcomes in patients suffering from life-threatening diseases. GIAPREZA^TM (angiotensin II), formerly known as LJPC-501, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 21, 2017 as a vasoconstrictor indicated to increase blood pressure in adults with septic or other distributive shock. LJPC-0118, a clinical-stage investigational product, is being developed for the potential treatment of severe malaria, a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito, which feeds on humans. LJPC-401 (synthetic human hepcidin), a clinical-stage investigational product, is being developed for the potential treatment of conditions characterized by iron overload, such as hereditary hemochromatosis, beta thalassemia, sickle cell disease, myelodysplastic syndrome and polycythemia vera. The Company was incorporated in 1989 as a Delaware corporation and reincorporated in California in 2012. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had $172.6 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared to $90.9 million in cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2017. Based on the Company’s current operating plans and projections, the Company expects that its cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2018 will be sufficient to fund operations for at least one year from the date this Annual Report on Form 10-K is filed with the SEC.

Business

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (collectively with its wholly-owned subsidiaries, the Company) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative therapies intended to significantly improve outcomes in patients suffering from life-threatening diseases. GIAPREZA^TM (angiotensin II), formerly known as LJPC-501, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 21, 2017 as a vasoconstrictor indicated to increase blood pressure in adults with septic or other distributive shock. LJPC-0118, a clinical-stage investigational product, is being developed for the potential treatment of severe malaria, a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito, which feeds on humans. LJPC-401 (synthetic human hepcidin), a clinical-stage investigational product, is being developed for the potential treatment of conditions characterized by iron overload, such as hereditary hemochromatosis, beta thalassemia, sickle cell disease, myelodysplastic syndrome and polycythemia vera.

The Company was incorporated in 1989 as a Delaware corporation and reincorporated in California in 2012.

As of December 31, 2018, the Company had $172.6 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared to $90.9 million in cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2017. Based on the Company’s current operating plans and projections, the Company expects that its cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2018 will be sufficient to fund operations for at least one year from the date this Annual Report on Form 10-K is filed with the SEC.