Cincinnati-based contract research organization (CRO) Medpace acquired European CRO Medical Consulting Dr. Schlichtiger for an undisclosed sum.

Based in Munich, Germany, Medical Consulting provides drug development services with a focus on regulatory consulting and pharmacovigilance. The company was founded in 1989 by Ursula Schlichtiger, M.D., now the company’s general manager.

Schlichtiger will join the Medpace team as managing director and senior director of medical and regulatory affairs.

Medpace plans to complete the integration of Medical Consulting later this year.

According to Medpace, the acquisition will strengthen the CRO’s European presence by providing centralized European hubs for regulatory submissions and approvals as well as drug safety management and reporting.

Medpace’s European headquarters is based in The Netherlands with regional offices scattered through Europe. The CRO also has Asian headquarters in Singapore and regional offices in Asia, Australia, South Africa and the Americas.

U.S. investigative sites rated Medpace the top CRO to work with in the 2009 CenterWatch Site Survey. The company has 1000 employees worldwide but plans to add another 760 by 2014. To accommodate this growth, Medpace began construction earlier this month on a new 132,000-square-foot corporate headquarters  in Cincinnati.