Jardiance Half-Life
The plasma elimination half-life of empagliflozin (Jardiance) is approximately 12.4 hours based on population pharmacokinetic analysis. 1
Pharmacokinetic Details
The FDA label for Jardiance provides the most authoritative data on empagliflozin's elimination characteristics:
- Terminal elimination half-life: 12.4 hours (apparent, based on population pharmacokinetic analysis) 1
- Apparent oral clearance: 10.6 L/h at steady state 1
- Time to steady state: Achieved after approximately 6 days of once-daily dosing, with up to 22% accumulation in plasma AUC 1
Supporting Research Data
Clinical studies have reported consistent half-life values:
- In Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes, mean terminal elimination half-life values at steady state were 13.9 hours (10 mg dose) and 12.1 hours (25 mg dose) 2
- Multiple-dose studies showed terminal half-life ranging from 10.3 to 18.8 hours 3
- A Japanese study reported a terminal elimination half-life of 13.1 hours 4
Clinical Implications
The ~12-hour half-life supports:
- Once-daily dosing: The half-life is sufficient to maintain therapeutic drug levels with once-daily administration 1
- Urinary glucose excretion duration: Following single doses, the elevation in urinary glucose excretion approaches baseline by approximately 3 days for both 10 mg and 25 mg doses 1
- Steady-state kinetics: Linear pharmacokinetics with no time-dependent characteristics, making dosing predictable 1
Important Caveat
The half-life remains relatively consistent across different patient populations, with no clinically meaningful alterations based on age, BMI, gender, race, or mild-to-moderate hepatic/renal impairment 1. However, drug exposure (AUC) does increase with declining renal function, though this doesn't substantially alter the elimination half-life itself.