Case study
An investigator meeting for 350 clinical trial investigators, KlinEra and Akero
ICE India ran the investigator meeting for Akero's clinical trial in India, from group flights and handbook printing to attendance and assessment records, in Mumbai and Gurugram.
By ICE India · Updated
- Client
- KlinEra, for Akero
- Event
- Investigator meeting for a clinical trial
- When
- May 2023 in Mumbai, with a second edition in Gurugram in May 2025
- Where
- Taj Lands End, Mumbai, and Taj Gurgaon
- 350investigators and researchers at each edition
- 20+cities flown in from, on group fares with eight airlines
- 1,400+printed documents, many revised days before the event
The brief
KlinEra works with pharmaceutical companies on clinical drug trials across India. For Akero's investigational drug, it needed its investigators in one room: 350 doctors and researchers from government hospitals, private research centres, medical colleges and trial organisations, in metros and tier-two towns. Many worked on the same trial without ever having met.
The meeting was a training event for the trial, which meant assessed learning and a record of who attended each session. It ran over two consecutive days with no leisure extension, so a delayed flight or a missing handbook cost clinical time as well as the agenda. Attendance was often confirmed only 10 to 14 days ahead, and the trial handbooks were still changing days before the event.
What ICE India delivered
Group travel
Departure cities collected through a digital form, group fares negotiated with eight airlines, and seats confirmed for all 350 attendees from 20+ cities.
Hotel and rooming
Taj Lands End in Mumbai and Taj Gurgaon, with single occupancy for delegates, suites for speakers and sponsor executives, and accessible rooms.
Handbook printing
Modular clinical trial handbooks, investigator guides and safety bulletins, reprinted on short notice as the sponsor's regulatory team revised them.
Attendance and assessment records
Attendance tracking by session, pre and post assessments, and personalised certificates for every attendee.
Conference production
Registration, AV, quiet breakout rooms for investigators and sponsor staff, and catering timed to the two-day agenda.
Welcome dinner and gifts
Seating mixed across trial sites, and branded gift bags with a steel bottle, notebook, pen and cookies.
Flights and arrivals for 350 people
ICE India collected each attendee's departure city, travel preferences, dietary needs and accessibility requirements through a digital form, then negotiated group fares with eight airlines serving the medical hubs. Delegates flew from Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Nagpur, Ahmedabad and smaller cities, routed through hub cities to keep journeys short.
Arrivals were staggered so that check-in at the hotel stayed orderly, and airport transfers were arranged through the hotel. Every traveller had a mobile number for live support on delays and changes. Return flights were booked across several days: some investigators left straight after the closing session, others stayed on for business, and the group fares held either way.
Hotel, rooming and food
Both Taj properties offered business centres, quiet working space, medical emergency support and fast internet, which investigators needed to stay in touch with trial sites. Single occupancy was the default, with suites for speakers and sponsor executives and accessible rooms where needed.
Dietary needs were recorded at registration and passed to the kitchens: vegetarian and non-vegetarian, halal, kosher and Jain meals, and documented allergies. The first evening's welcome dinner used seating that mixed investigators from different trial sites. Continental breakfasts supported early starts, buffet lunches kept networking informal, and evening receptions followed the sessions.
Printing for a document that kept changing
The hardest logistics problem was paper. The sponsor's regulatory team finalised trial protocols, investigator assignments and safety updates only days before the event, and delegates still expected physical handbooks. ICE India arranged on-site printing with premium vendors, kept a reprint contingency budget, and fixed a 96-hour lead time for final content. The handbooks were split into modules so a changed section could be reprinted without redoing the whole book. Digital copies went to speakers and sponsor staff.
Each edition's print run was:
- Clinical trial handbook
- 350+ copies of the main protocol document.
- Investigator guide
- 350+ booklets.
- Safety update bulletin
- 350+ copies.
- Agendas, speaker biographies and maps
- 450+ pieces, for a total above 1,400 printed documents.
Attendance and assessment records
On the day, a secure registration and attendance system recorded who attended each session. A pre-conference assessment set the baseline for protocol understanding, safety awareness and investigator responsibilities, and a post-conference assessment recorded what had been learned.
ICE India kept the attendance and assessment records for all 350 attendees and handed each one a personalised certificate at the closing session.
The two days on site
Day one opened with sponsor leadership on trial progress. Afternoon breakouts grouped investigators by region for site-specific protocol discussion, and the welcome dinner followed in the evening. Day two covered safety protocols, adverse event reporting, patient recruitment and regulatory updates, with a panel of experienced investigators and a closing session that included the certificate handover.
Registration used pre-check-in to cut queues. IT supported video presentations and digital content, quiet rooms were kept free for private conversations between investigators and sponsor staff, and catering was timed to the sessions. Medical emergency support was available throughout.
What made it work
- Scheduled around clinical time
- Two-day format, no extensions and session timings that kept investigators away from their trial sites for as little time as possible.
- Print built for change
- Modular handbooks, a 96-hour content freeze and a reprint budget turned late regulatory edits into routine work.
- Attendance and assessment records
- Session attendance, assessments and certificates were planned from the start, because one clerical error could affect all 350 attendees.
- Travel tracked from form to flight
- Forms, group fares, staggered arrivals and live support meant a single delayed flight did not unravel the agenda.
Delegates flew in from cities including Hyderabad, and the travel desk is the kind of work covered under event logistics.
The acronym ICE stands for Impressive, Capable, and Efficient. It was so calm and well-managed that they were able to handle the whole event from scratch. The company is experienced in handling things such as negotiations, customisation, and creativity. Our event was managed by ICE India in such a way that our client was unstoppable in appreciating it. It is Mufaddal who is the backbone of ICE India and he has a wonderful team to support him in managing any event. We had a great time working with ICE India, and I am sure they will go far in this industry. A big thank you to the team at ICE India.
Dear Mufaddal & ICE team,
I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere appreciation for the amazing job you did in organizing our all-company offsite in Goa. From start to finish, it was a seamless and enjoyable experience. Your team was a pleasure to work with, and I was thoroughly impressed by their professionalism, attention to detail, and willingness to go above and beyond.
Mufaddal, throughout the planning stages, you were incredibly responsive and proactive in addressing any questions or concerns we had. You provided us with valuable insights and recommendations that helped us create a customized program that perfectly met our needs for a good balance between team building, local experiences and fun.
During the event, your team was exceptional in their coordination and execution. They were always available to help and ensure everything was running smoothly. I appreciate you being there to supervise everything and act as a point of contact throughout the event, going out of your way to accommodate any last-minute needs or changes. Your personal involvement really helped us deliver a memorable and meaningful offsite.
Overall, I am thrilled with the experience your team provided us.
Dear Mufaddal and Shreya, This was our first event and we approached ICE India for support. You both were very calm, composed and able to make decisions at once, quickly. You were able to understand our needs and always happy to help even when the plan changes last minute. You are very organized in your work which leads to minimum last minute issues – which we all know are bound to happen. We had a fantastic experience and were treated with thorough professionalism right from planning, organizing and executing the event. It was a fabulous experience working with you both and we cannot thank you enough for executing it so well. Kind regards, Gita
Questions this event answers
What is an investigator meeting for a clinical trial?
A meeting where the investigators on a drug trial review the protocol, safety data and their responsibilities. For Akero's trial, KlinEra brought 350 investigators together, many of whom had worked on the same programme without meeting. See conference management.
How do you fly 350 doctors in from 20+ cities for a two-day meeting?
Collect departure cities and preferences early, negotiate group fares with the airlines that serve the medical hubs, stagger arrivals for the hotel, and give every traveller a live support number. Confirmations often arrive only 10 to 14 days out, so the booking process has to cope with late changes.
How do you print handbooks that change days before the event?
Split the handbook into modules, agree a content freeze with the sponsor's regulatory team (96 hours here), print on site with premium vendors, and hold a reprint budget. Digital copies go to speakers and sponsor staff, and physical handbooks are handed out at check-in.
What records does an investigator meeting need from the organiser?
Attendance tracked session by session, pre and post assessments, and a personalised certificate for every attendee. ICE India kept all three for the 350 investigators.
How is a medical conference different from a corporate one?
Attendance and assessment records depend on the paperwork, schedules must respect clinical commitments, and the content cannot read as promotion. Hospitality is quieter and more practical: single rooms, documented dietary needs and working space with reliable internet.
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