Trial ID	Intervention(s) and comparator(s)	Sex (female %)	Age (mean years (SD))	HbA1c (mean % (SD))	BMI (mean kg/m² (SD))	Comedications/Cointerventions (% of participants)	Comorbidities (% of participants)
Bilezikian 2013	I: metformin	100	64.0 (6.5)	6.8 (0.7)	31.5 (5.8)	Calcium: 100 Vitamin D: 100	—
	C1: rosiglitazone	100	63.6 (6.6)	6.8 (0.7)	31.2 (5.9)	Calcium: 100 Vitamin D: 100
Campbell 1994	I: metformin	67	57 (10)	11.5 (1.9)	29.6 (5.6)	Diuretic therapy: 16.7 Antihypertensive drugs: 16.7	—
	C1: glipizide	67	57 (9)	11.8 (2.1)	31.2 (6.6)	Diuretic therapy: 12.5 Antihypertensive drugs: 12.5
Derosa 2003	I: metformin	52	52 (9)	7.4 (0.9)	24.7 (1.2)	Diet and exercise: 100	—
	C1: repaglinide	48	55 (10)	7.6 (0.9)	25.2 (1.1)	Diet and exercise: 100
Derosa 2004a	I: metformin	49	58 (9)	8.4 (1)	28.1 (1.5)	Diet and exercise: 100	—
	C1: glimepiride	53	56 (10)	8.5 (1.2)	27.6 (1.2)	Diet and exercise: 100
Derosa 2009	I: metformin	49	55 (5)	9.1 (1.2)	27.2 (1.5)	Diet and exercise: 100	Overweight: 100
	C1: rosiglitazone	54	54 (6)	9.2 (1.3)	27.5 (1.7)	Diet and exercise: 100	Overweight: 100
Erem 2014	I: metformin	68	52.2 (10.5)	7.62 (1.1)	33.6 (4.6)	Diet and exercise: 100	Hypertension: 52.6 Coronary heart disease: 10.5 Hyperlipidemia: 10.5 Microalbuminuria: 21.1
	C1: gliclazide	63	55.0 (8.7)	8.26 (1.7)	32.7 (3.9)	Diet and exercise: 100	Hypertension: 42.1 Coronary heart disease: 10.5 Hyperlipidemia: 15.8 Microalbuminuria: 15.8
	C2: pioglitazone	74	52.5 (5.2)	8.03 (1.7)	31.3 (4.7)	Diet and exercise: 100	Hypertension: 47.4 Coronary heart disease: 0 Hyperlipidemia: 10.5 Microalbuminuria: 15.8
Kahn 2006	I: metformin	41	57.9 (9.9)	7.4 (0.9)	32.1 (6.1)	—	—
	C1: rosiglitazone	44	56.3 (10.0)	7.4 (0.9)	32.2 (6.7)
	C2: glibenclamide	42	56.4 (10.2)	7.4 (0.9)	32.2 (6.3)
Kiyici 2009	I: metformin	—	52.4 (8.3)	6.7 (0.9)	31.6 (3.6)	ACE‐inhibitors: 43 Diet and exercise: 100	Hypertension: 43.8
	C1: rosiglitazone		50.7 (6.4)	7.1 (0.9)	31.2 (5.9)	ACE‐inhibitors: 26 Diet and exercise: 100	Hypertension: 26.3
	C2: no intervention		52.1 (5.1)	6.4 (0.6)	30.0 (3.2)	ACE‐inhibitors: 40 Diet and exercise: 100	Hypertension: 40.0
Onuchin 2010	I: metformin	100	59.4 (9.2)	10.4 (1.6)	32.8 (6.4)	—	Hypertension: 100 Abdominal obesity: 100
	C1: insulin	100	61.1 (8.5)	11.0 (1.9)	31.1 (7.6)		Hypertension: 100 Abdominal obesity: 100
Pfützner 2011	I: metformin	50	51.8 (10.7)	9.4 (1.3)	30.2 (4.9)	Rescue pioglitazone: 32.0 Diet and exercise: 100	—
	C1: saxagliptin	50	52.1 (10.2)	9.6 (1.3)	30.2 (4.9)	Rescue pioglitazone: 46.3 Diet and exercise: 100
Rahman 2011	I: metformin	52	51.9 (14.1)	10.5 (2.5)	26.6 (6.2)	—	—
	C1: glimepiride	53	52.0 (15.4)	10.6 (2.9)	26.0 (5.2)
Schernthaner 2004	I: metformin	42	56 (9.3)	8.7 (1.0)	31.4 (5.2)	Diet: 100	—
	C1: pioglitazone	47	57 (9.4)	8.7 (1.0)	31.2 (4.9)	Diet: 100
Schweizer 2007	I: metformin	43	53.6 (10.2)	8.7 (1.1)	32.5 (5.7)	Rescue pioglitazone: 27	—b
	C1: vildagliptin	47	52.8 (11.7)	8.7 (1.1)	32.4 (5.7)	Rescue pioglitazone: 38
Teupe 1991	I: metformin	60	51.5 (10.1)	10.0 (1.6)	—	Diet: 100	—
	C1: no intervention	60	56 (7.6)	9.6 (1.3)		Diet: 100
UKPDS 34 1998	I: metformin	46	53 (8)	7.3 (1.5)	31.6 (4.8)	Diet: 100 Aspirin: 5 Antihypertensive drugs: 51 Lipid‐lowering drugs: 1	—
	C1: glibenclamide	46	53 (9)	7.2 (1.7)	31.5 (4.4)	Diet: 100 Aspirin: 3 Antihypertensive drugs: 44 Lipid‐lowering drugs: 2
	C2: insulin	45	53 (8)	7.2 (1.5)	31.0 (4.2)	Diet: 100 Aspirin: 12 Antihypertensive drugs: 49 Lipid‐lowering drugs: 1
Umpierrez 2014	I: metformin	55	55.26 (10.1)	7.6 (0.8)	33 (5)	Diet and exercise: 100 Rescue medication: 5.2	—
	C1: dulaglutide (1.5 mg/week)	58	55.51 (10.4)	7.6 (0.9)	34 (6)	Diet and exercise: 100 Rescue medication: 4.5
	C2: dulaglutide (0.75 mg/week)	56	55.90 (10.7)	7.6 (0.9)	33 (5)	Diet and exercise: 100 Rescue medication: 3.0
Williams‐Herman 2010	I: metformin (1000 mg/day)	51	53.4 (10.2)	8.9 (1.0)	32.1 (6.8)	Rescue glibenclamide: 73	—
	I2: metformin (2000 mg/day)	55	53.2 (9.6)	8.7 (0.9)	32.2 (7.1)	Rescue glibenclamide: 53
	C1: sitagliptin	48	53.3 (10.2)	8.9 (1.0)	31.2 (5.9)	Rescue glibenclamide: 78
Yamanouchi 2005	I: metformin	49	54.7 (9.8)	9.9 (0.7)	26.2 (3.8)	Antihypertensive drugs: 46 Diet and exercise: 100	—
	C1: pioglitazone	53	55.2 (9.2)	10.2 (0.8)	25.8 (4.2)	Antihypertensive drugs: 42 Diet and exercise: 100
	C2: glimepiride	49	55.6 (9.3)	9.8 (0.7)	25.6 (3.5)	Antihypertensive drugs: 49 Diet and exercise: 100
—: denotes not reported aAll baseline values were reported after the 8‐week titration period bStudy population contained participants at risk of cardiovascular disease ACE: angiotensin‐converting‐enzyme; BMI: body mass index; C: comparator; HbA1c: glycosylated haemoglobin A1c; I: intervention; SD: standard deviation; UKPDS: United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study.