Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail)

Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail)			1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		4 Months Ended
	Aug. 01, 2015 ft²	Apr. 24, 2015 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2015 USD ($) ft²	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Apr. 24, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 CAD	May 14, 2015	Feb. 01, 2015 USD ($)
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Expiration of operating lease agreement					2016-09
Additional office space \| ft²	2,245
Consolidated rent and facilities expense					$ 100,000	$ 100,000
Lease termination agreement, additional fee payable				$ 1,300,000
Indemnification obligations					0
Expenses related to indemnification issues					0
Vancouver, Canada [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Aggregate future minimum annual lease payments under the lease					46,000,000
Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Litigation settlement, upfront payment			$ 1,400,000
Royalty payment percentage			5.00%
Sale, license or other transaction payment percentage			50.00%
Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Litigation settlement, success based payment			$ 5,000,000
Grosvenor International Limited [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Area of office space leased \| ft²				11,526
Expiration date of option to lease additional area of office space				Aug. 01, 2015
Lease expiration date				Apr. 30, 2018
Optional lease renewal				3 years
Monthly base rent commencement date				May 01, 2015
Lessee's share of property tax percentage.				17.00%
Construction allowance received for leasehold improvements										$ 100,000
Deposit amount under lease agreement										$ 200,000
Grosvenor International Limited [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Monthly base rent				$ 20,000
Grosvenor International Limited [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Monthly base rent				$ 18,000
BMR-217TH Place LLC [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Lease termination agreement, date of termination				Mar. 01, 2015
Letter of credit drawn to pay deferred state sales tax				$ 100,000
Letter of credit terminated				200,000
Terminated lease				500,000
BMR-217TH Place LLC [Member] \| Termination Fee [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Lease termination agreement, fee payable				2,000,000
BMR-217TH Place LLC [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Amount of funding to raise that would trigger payment of additional termination fee				$ 20,000,000
Collaborative Arrangement [Member] \| Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Proceeds from advance reimbursement research and development							$ 27,000,000
Hold-back amount and third-party expenses deducted from advanced reimbursement payment		$ 3,800,000					3,800,000
Hold-back amount deducted from advanced reimbursement payment		3,000,000					3,000,000
Third-party expenses deducted from advanced reimbursement payment							$ 800,000
Maximum cost exposure if third-party agreements discovered after the termination date					$ 100,000
Collaborative Arrangement [Member] \| Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Collaboration agreement aggregate amount		$ 23,200,000
Hold-back amount, requested payment percentage									30.00%
Lawsuit filing date					January 2016
Range of each product line					10 years
Collaborative Arrangement [Member] \| Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Milestone payments					$ 4,300,000
Collaborative Arrangement [Member] \| University of British Columbia [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Milestone payments \| CAD								CAD 800,000
Payments for royalty					$ 0