Short answer: Both are once-daily SGLT2 inhibitor tablets approved for type 2 diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease. Jardiance (empagliflozin) comes as 10 mg and 25 mg; Farxiga (dapagliflozin) as 5 mg and 10 mg, with 10 mg used for heart and kidney uses.12 No trial has compared them with each other; each label reports its own placebo-controlled trials.
| Jardiance (empagliflozin) | Farxiga (dapagliflozin) | |
|---|---|---|
| Drug class | SGLT2 inhibitor1 | SGLT2 inhibitor2 |
| Approved for | Heart failure; chronic kidney disease at risk of getting worse; lowering cardiovascular death in type 2 diabetes with heart disease; blood sugar in type 2 diabetes from age 101 | Chronic kidney disease at risk of getting worse; heart failure; lowering heart failure hospital stays in type 2 diabetes with heart disease or several risk factors; blood sugar in type 2 diabetes from age 102 |
| Tablets | 10 mg and 25 mg1 | 5 mg and 10 mg2 |
| Label dose | 10 mg once daily in the morning, with or without food. For blood sugar, may go up to 25 mg1 | Blood sugar: 5 mg once daily, may go up to 10 mg. All other uses: 10 mg once daily2 |
| Kidney cutoff for blood sugar use | Not recommended if eGFR is under 301 | Not recommended if eGFR is under 452 |
| Kidney rule for heart and kidney uses | Trials did not enroll adults with eGFR under 20 or on dialysis1 | Not started if eGFR is under 25; may be continued if eGFR falls below 25 during treatment2 |
| Half-life | About 12.4 hours1 | About 12.9 hours after a 10 mg dose2 |
| Female genital yeast infections (blood sugar trials) | 5.4% on 10 mg and 6.4% on 25 mg vs 1.5% on placebo1 | 8.4% on 5 mg and 6.9% on 10 mg vs 1.5% on placebo2 |
| Urinary tract infections (blood sugar trials) | 9.3% on 10 mg and 7.6% on 25 mg vs 7.6% on placebo1 | 5.7% on 5 mg and 4.3% on 10 mg vs 3.7% on placebo2 |
| Before surgery | Hold for at least 3 days before surgery or long fasting, if possible1 | Hold for at least 3 days before surgery or long fasting, if possible2 |
Each drug was tested against placebo, on top of usual heart failure treatment, in two trials: one in people with a reduced pumping fraction (40% or less) and one in people above 40%.
These numbers come from separate placebo-controlled trials with different people, lengths and methods, so they are not a head-to-head comparison. The Farxiga trials also counted urgent heart failure visits, which the Jardiance trials did not.
EMPA-KIDNEY (Jardiance) enrolled 6,609 adults with chronic kidney disease and followed them for a median of 24 months. A 40% or greater sustained drop in eGFR, kidney failure, or cardiovascular or kidney death occurred in 13.1% on Jardiance vs 16.9% on placebo (hazard ratio 0.72). About 44% had type 2 diabetes.1
DAPA-CKD (Farxiga) enrolled 4,304 adults with eGFR 25 to 75 and protein in the urine, followed for a median of 28.5 months. A 50% or greater sustained drop in eGFR, kidney failure, or cardiovascular or kidney death had a hazard ratio of 0.61 vs placebo (197 vs 312 people). 68% had type 2 diabetes.2
The two trials used different kidney endpoints (40% vs 50% eGFR drop) and different people, so the numbers cannot be lined up against each other.
In EMPA-REG OUTCOME, 7,020 adults with type 2 diabetes and heart disease were followed for a median of 3.1 years. Heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death occurred in 10.5% on Jardiance vs 12.1% on placebo (hazard ratio 0.86), driven by fewer cardiovascular deaths (hazard ratio 0.62).1
In DECLARE, 17,160 adults with type 2 diabetes and heart disease or several risk factors were followed for a median of 4.2 years. Farxiga did not lower heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death (hazard ratio 0.93, not significant), but heart failure hospital stay or cardiovascular death occurred in 4.9% vs 5.8% (hazard ratio 0.83).2
That is why the approved wording differs: Jardiance lists lowering cardiovascular death in type 2 diabetes with heart disease, and Farxiga lists lowering heart failure hospital stays.12
More detail: Jardiance side effects, Farxiga side effects, the Jardiance and Farxiga dosing schedules, and what to do if you miss a Jardiance dose or miss a Farxiga dose.