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)	3 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended					0 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2015 BMR-217TH Place LLC USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 BMR-217TH Place LLC USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2015 BMR-217TH Place LLC Termination Fee [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2015 Grosvenor International Limited sqft	Feb. 01, 2015 Grosvenor International Limited USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2015 Maximum Grosvenor International Limited USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2015 Minimum [Member] BMR-217TH Place LLC USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2015 Minimum [Member] Grosvenor International Limited USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2009 Collaborative Arrangement Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 Collaborative Arrangement Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 License Agreement with University of British Columbia [Member] CAD	Mar. 31, 2015 License Agreement with University of British Columbia [Member] Maximum CAD	Mar. 31, 2015 License Agreement with Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 License Agreement with Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. [Member] Maximum USD ($)	Apr. 24, 2015 Subsequent Event USD ($)	Apr. 24, 2015 Subsequent Event Collaborative Arrangement USD ($)	May 14, 2015 Subsequent Event License Agreement with Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. [Member]	Apr. 24, 2015 Subsequent Event Termination Agreement with Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. [Member] USD ($)	May 14, 2015 Subsequent Event Termination Agreement with Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Proceeds From Advance reimbursement research and development																				$ 27,000,000
Hold-back and third-party expense																				3,800,000	3,000,000
Maximum cost exposure if third-party agreements discovered after the termination date													100,000
Collaboration agreement aggregate amount														50,000,000
Gross Proceeds															10,000,000
Direct and indirect costs incurred															30,000,000
Milestone payments																	1,600,000		7,750,000
Net proceed from related party amount, requested payment percentage																						30.00%
Proceeds From Advance reimbursement research and development, net amount																							23,200,000
Hold-back amount, requested payment percentage																								30.00%
Amount due to Isis for reimbursement for research and development activities																		0
Obligation to pay patent costs and annual license maintenance fees																8,000
Milestone payment																100,000		800,000
Expiry period of agreement of patented license																20 years
Range of each product line																		10 years
Milestone payment due																		20,000,000
Period of milestone payment																		21 days
Reserve for contingency of non payment of non-royalty milestone amount																		20,000,000
Milestone payment made																		10,000,000
Balance amount of milestone payment																		10,000,000
Expiration of operating lease agreement	2015-09
Lease termination agreement, date of termination					Mar. 01, 2015
Lease termination agreement, fee paid							2,000,000
Lease termination agreement, additional fee payable			1,300,000
Amount of funding to raise that would trigger payment of additional termination fee											20,000,000
Letter of credit drawn to pay deferred state sales tax					100,000
Letter of credit terminated					200,000
Terminated lease					500,000
Lease termination liability	1,250,000ogxi_LeaseTerminationLiabilityCurrent			3,250,000ogxi_LeaseTerminationLiabilityCurrent		1,300,000
Area of office space leased								11,526
Additional area of office space available to lease, optional								8,054
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										20,000		18,000
Monthly base rent commencement date								May 01, 2015
Lessee's share of property tax percentage.								17.00%
Lease agreement, construction allowance receivable									100,000
Deposit amount under lease agreement									200,000
Consolidated rent and facilities expense	500,000us-gaap_OperatingLeasesRentExpenseNet	700,000us-gaap_OperatingLeasesRentExpenseNet
Indemnification obligations	0
Expenses related to indemnification issues	$ 0ogxi_IndemnificationExpense