US pharmaceutical company PPD is set to buy AbCRO, a Bulgaria-based contract research organization, as it hopes to expand its contract drug testing business in Central and Eastern Europe, newsobserver.com reported late Monday.

US based PPD, which helps drugmakers test new medicines, employs about 10,500 worldwide, including about 1,700 in Morrisville, US.

The acquisition, which is expected to be completed by the end of March, will gain PPD entry into Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia and bolsters PPD's existing operations in Poland, Russia and the Ukraine.

Founded in 2000, AbCRO provides Phase II through IV testing, including clinical trial management and monitoring, patient recruitment, site identification and regulatory affairs. The company employs more than 230 people, many of whom have worked with PPD in the past three years.

Financial details of the deal have not yet been disclosed.

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