Abstract Body (Do not enter title and authors here): Background: US guidelines for type 2 diabetes (T2DM) recommend metformin as first-line anti-hyperglycemic therapy (AHT), but prioritizing the use of AHTs that reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk – GLP1-RAs and SGLT2is – is increasingly suggested for people with CVD. We examine the multinational use patterns of GLP1-RAs, SGLT2is, DPP4is, and sulfonylureas (SUs) as first-line therapies for patients with CVD.

Methods: In 10 US and 6 non-US databases between 2016 and 2021 mapped to a common data model [A], we measured yearly initiation of GLP1-RAs, SGLT2is, DPP4is, and SUs as first-line AHTs in patients with T2DM with and without CVD [B]. We also compared the initiation of the drug classes as second-line after metformin. We calculated the annual rate of change in proportional initiation of each drug class as first-line AHT and assessed differences in trends as group x time interactions in linear mixed models.

Results: Across all data sources, 3.3 million patients with T2DM used GLP1-RAs, SGLT2is, DPP4is, or SUs as first-line AHTs, and 3.9m initiated these drug classes as second-line AHT after metformin. Within the first-line cohort, 1.4m (41%) had established CVD compared with 1.2m (31%) in the second-line cohort. For GLP1-RAs and SGLT2is, the annual rate of their relative use as first-line agents increased among patients with T2DM with CVD (GLP1RAs: ranging 1.3-5.4% in US [C] and 0.3-0.8% in non-US [D], SGLT2is: 2.1-12.9% in US [E] and 8.1-10.6% in non-US databases [F]). There was a larger relative increase in the use of SGLT2i and a smaller increase in GLP1RA use in CVD vs non-CVD cohorts (P_interaction <.001). While there was a larger increase in GLP1RAs uptake in the US cohorts, SGLT2i use increased more in non-US cohorts ([C-F], P_interaction <.001 for all, except .01 for SGLT2i). Of note, across cohorts, the uptake of GLP1RA and SGLT2i as first-line was higher than second-line use among those with CVD (P_interaction <.001). In contrast, DPP4i and SU use as first-line was lower than GLP1RA and SGLT2is and decreased over time (P<.001).

Conclusions: In a large-scale multinational, federated cohort of patients with T2DM, the use of cardioprotective agents increased as first-line AHT, with variation in SGLT2i and GLP1RAs uptake across study cohorts.