Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Property and Equipment - Summary of Property and Equipment (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Cost	$ 1,294us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGross	$ 1,211us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGross
Accumulated Depreciation	1,037	814
Net Book Value	257us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentNet	397us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentNet
Computer equipment [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Cost	493	873
Accumulated Depreciation	395	538
Net Book Value	98	335
Furniture and fixtures [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Cost	170	170
Accumulated Depreciation	151	139
Net Book Value	19	31
Leasehold improvements [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Cost	55	54
Accumulated Depreciation	55	53
Net Book Value		1
Computer software [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Cost	462
Accumulated Depreciation	342
Net Book Value	120
Equipment under capital lease [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Cost	114	114
Accumulated Depreciation	94	84
Net Book Value	$ 20	$ 30