Investigator meetings play a crucial role in bringing new drugs, biologics, and medical devices to market. These conferences bring decision makers and healthcare professionals together for training on how to collaborate more efficiently and move forward.

All clinical research trials encounter challenges, but you can reduce hurdles, improve subject safety, and boost data quality by ensuring your investigator meetings go off without a hitch. 

There’s no surefire recipe for success, but there are several things you can do to conduct these meetings more effectively. Here are 5 effortless ways to boost the effectiveness of your investigator meetings.

1) Develop a plan.

The first step to hosting a successful investigator meeting is developing a plan. To do that, you need to answer questions like:

• Who’s attending?
• Where will the meeting be held?
• What’s the budget?
• Which items are on the agenda?
• What type of equipment will you need?

With that information, you can determine where and when to host the meeting. What’s more, with an official date and place, you can decide on the agenda, send out invitations, and finalize presentations.

2) Prepare a variety of training materials.

Everyone has a different learning style. Some people retain information better when they read it,  but for others, it’s easier to listen to a podcast or watch a video.

It takes some extra effort, but you can increase learning retention (and reduce errors) by creating different types of training materials, such as posters, individual printouts, or scripts to use in role-playing practice.

3) Have your subject matter experts (SMEs) attend.

Some companies have their subject matter experts prepare educational materials in advance of investigator meetings. “How to” documents, IB protocols and informational videos are excellent resources individually, but they’re even more effective when used to supplement presentations. 

Invite subject matter experts from various departments, including:

• Quality assurance
• Vendor oversight
• Clinical operations
• Regulatory affairs
• Strategic development

That way, if trial sponsors or other decision makers have questions, you have several experts on-hand to answer them with ease.

4) Consider offering an “On-demand” option.

Getting key decision makers to attend an in-person investigator meeting can be challenging, especially if they’re located in different countries or time zones. Even if you accommodate varying schedules, some people are bound to miss out. 

Another problem to consider is attrition. If you’ve partnered with a CRO to bring a drug or biologic to market, turnover may happen during the course of the trial. How can you ensure new team members have the proper training necessary to maintain the study’s integrity?

You can address both of these challenges by hosting audio and video recordings of investigator meetings on a cloud-based server. Anyone unable to attend a meeting in person can refer to these materials later on and stay abreast of changes.

5) Commit to staying compliant.

Developing new drugs and biologics requires strict adherence to various legal and regulatory guidelines. Compliance at investigator meetings is just as vital. Specifically, you should focus on compliance in three areas:

• Internal compliance: Your business has policies for data protection and meetings as well as brand requirements – It’s imperative that you’re familiar with these directives. After all, if you break internal regulations, how will that affect the product you’re bringing to market?
• Country requirements: Investigator meetings must align with certain policies established by the host country. To prevent bribery and corruption, many countries have laws on things like the hotel star rating or class of airline seat that attendees are allowed.
• Pharma compliance: The International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use, or ICH, has established good clinical practice (GCP) guidelines. Adhering to these regulations protects the public’s health, improves access to clinical research, and boosts the accuracy of data.

Are you getting the most out of your investigator meetings?

Investigator meetings have two primary goals –– training and relationship building. It’s key that everyone who attends leaves with a complete understanding of what the trial involves and their role in it. Without that, what’s the point? 

A successful clinical trial requires effective training for everyone involved. With a lack of instruction, data and patient safety may be compromised. By following the five-step process listed above you can prevent headaches and stay on track.

Harbor Clinical regularly regularly assists with investigator meeting planning. To learn more about how we can assist you, call (781) 775-0342 or fill out an online contact form today.