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Summary of significant accounting policies (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014 item
Segment and geographic information
Number of operating segments	1us-gaap_NumberOfOperatingSegments
Computer equipment and software
Fixed assets
Estimated useful life	3 years
Furniture, fixtures, and lab equipment | Minimum
Fixed assets
Estimated useful life	3 years
Furniture, fixtures, and lab equipment | Maximum
Fixed assets
Estimated useful life	7 years

X

- Definition

Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Useful life of long lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. Examples include, but not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
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X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=ptct_ComputerEquipmentAndSoftwareMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=ptct_FurnitureFixturesAndLabEquipmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: