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Income Taxes - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Dec. 31, 2013
Dec. 31, 2012
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]      
Income tax expense $ 0us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit $ 0us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit $ 0us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Increase (decrease) in valuation allowance 27,800,000us-gaap_ValuationAllowanceDeferredTaxAssetChangeInAmount 22,500,000us-gaap_ValuationAllowanceDeferredTaxAssetChangeInAmount 22,000,000us-gaap_ValuationAllowanceDeferredTaxAssetChangeInAmount
Amount of valuation allowance for deferred tax assets allocated to contributed capital 300,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxesBusinessCombinationValuationAllowanceAllocatedToContributedCapital    
Unrecognized tax benefits 2,426,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits    
Unrecognized tax benefits would affect the effective tax rate 0us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsThatWouldImpactEffectiveTaxRate    
Interest related to unrecognized tax benefits 0us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsInterestOnIncomeTaxesExpense    
Penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits 0us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesExpense    
Federal      
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]      
Net operating loss carryforwards 479,100,000us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards
/ us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis
= dvax_FederalMember
   
Federal | Minimum      
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]      
Net operating loss carryforwards, expiration year 2018    
Federal | Maximum      
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]      
Net operating loss carryforwards, expiration year 2034    
Federal | Research And Development      
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]      
Tax credit carryforward amount 16,400,000us-gaap_TaxCreditCarryforwardAmount
/ us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis
= dvax_FederalMember
/ us-gaap_TaxCreditCarryforwardAxis
= dvax_ResearchAndDevelopmentMember
   
Federal | Research And Development | Minimum      
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]      
Tax credit carryforward amount, expiration year 2015    
Federal | Research And Development | Maximum      
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]      
Tax credit carryforward amount, expiration year 2034    
California State      
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]      
Net operating loss carryforwards 202,200,000us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards
/ us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis
= dvax_CaliforniaStateMember
   
California State | Minimum      
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]      
Net operating loss carryforwards, expiration year 2015    
California State | Maximum      
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]      
Net operating loss carryforwards, expiration year 2034    
California State | Research And Development      
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]      
Tax credit carryforward amount 12,700,000us-gaap_TaxCreditCarryforwardAmount
/ us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis
= dvax_CaliforniaStateMember
/ us-gaap_TaxCreditCarryforwardAxis
= dvax_ResearchAndDevelopmentMember
   
Foreign      
Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]      
Net operating loss carryforwards $ 23,100,000us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards
/ us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis
= us-gaap_ForeignCountryMember