Short answer: Both combine linagliptin with metformin for adults with type 2 diabetes, up to 5 mg linagliptin and 2,000 mg metformin a day.12 Jentadueto XR is extended-release, taken once daily with a meal and swallowed whole. Jentadueto is taken twice daily with meals. Both carry the boxed warning for lactic acidosis. The XR label says how to switch from Jentadueto.
| Jentadueto XR | Jentadueto | |
|---|---|---|
| How taken | Once daily with a meal; swallowed whole, never split, crushed or chewed1 | Twice daily with meals2 |
| Strengths | 5 mg/1,000 mg (one tablet) or 2.5 mg/1,000 mg (two tablets together)1 | 2.5 mg linagliptin with 500, 850 or 1,000 mg metformin2 |
| Start, not on metformin | 5 mg/1,000 mg once daily1 | 2.5 mg/500 mg twice daily2 |
| Maximum | 5 mg linagliptin and 2,000 mg metformin a day1 | 2.5 mg/1,000 mg twice daily2 |
| Side effects, 24-week trial | Stuffy or runny nose with sore throat 6.3% vs 1.4% on placebo; diarrhea 6.3% vs 2.8%1 | Same trial and figures2 |
| Kidney limit | Not used with eGFR below 30; not started at 30 to 451 | Not used with eGFR below 30; not started at 30 to 452 |
| Missed dose | Take with food when remembered; skip if it is time for the next; never 2 at once1 | Take with food when remembered; skip if it is time for the next; never 2 at once2 |
| Boxed warning | WARNING: LACTIC ACIDOSIS1 | WARNING: LACTIC ACIDOSIS2 |
The Jentadueto XR label says people taking Jentadueto, or linagliptin and metformin as separate tablets, switch to Jentadueto XR with 5 mg of linagliptin a day and a similar total daily dose of metformin, once daily with a meal. It adds that partly dissolved XR tablets may come out in the stool.1 The Jentadueto label says people already on metformin start with 2.5 mg linagliptin plus their current metformin dose at each of two daily meals.2
The warnings match: lactic acidosis, pancreatitis, low blood sugar with insulin or a sulfonylurea, serious allergy, low vitamin B12, severe joint pain, bullous pemphigoid and heart failure seen with two other DPP-4 inhibitors.12 Which, if either, fits is for your prescriber. More detail: Jentadueto XR side effects, Jentadueto side effects, the Jentadueto XR and Jentadueto dosing schedules, the Jentadueto XR and Jentadueto missed-dose pages, the linagliptin and metformin guides, and Jentadueto vs Janumet: how do the two DPP-4 and metformin tablets differ?.