PPD, Inc. has opened a pharmacovigilance and medical communications center in Sofia, Bulgaria, to provide a full range of drug safety, medical information and medical writing services.

“Expanding our safety and medical communications operations in Europe strengthens our ability to bring high quality global health care expertise to provide these services in an efficient, cost-effective and regulatory compliant manner,” said Christine Dingivan, M.D., chief medical officer, PPD. “There is strong demand for both pre- and post–approval safety services, and we have an experienced management team on the ground in Bulgaria to oversee our operations and to create customized programs that meet client needs.”

PPD will offer medical information call centersupport, adverse event capture, safety case processing and reporting, and periodic report writing services from Bulgaria. Sofia will become the company’s largest safety center and its third European hub for medical communications contact center services. PPD opened its Athlone, Ireland, facility in March and also operates contact center services in Stockholm, Sweden.

Additionally, Sofia offers trained health care professionals with extensive language capabilities. The center’s safety and medical information support servicesinclude: product inquiries, adverse event and product complaint intake, case processing and reporting of drug safety concerns.

PPD has hired more than 20 employees at the center with plans to expand to more than 200 in the next 12 months.