PPD’s second quarter results are down $50 million from this time a year ago. The Wilmington-based clinical research organization’s net revenue for the second quarter was $355.2 million, down from $403.1 million in the second quarter of 2008. PPD released their second quarter earnings on Tuesday.

The second quarter earnings were also lower than the first quarter of 2009. PPD recorded $364.9 million in net revenue for the first quarter 2009, down from $392.5 million in the first quarter of 2008.

Income from operations measured $53.4 million, compared to $69.9 million for the second quarter in 2009. Most of the segments at PPD were down except for the discovery sciences segment, which recorded a net revenue of $800,000 compared to $400,000 for the second quarter of last year.

The increased revenue was attributed to royalties from the sale of Priligy in Europe. However, the discovery sciences segment had an operating loss of $5.7 million compared to operating loss of $2.8 million in the discovery sciences segment last year. The loss was attributed to increases in research and development for a new dermatology business that it acquired this quarter.

“With the start of Priligy royalties and the advancement of the development programs for alogliptin and our dermatology portfolio, we remain confident that our compound partnering efforts will generate long-term, sustainable growth,” said Executive Chairman Fred Eshelman in a statement.

As of June 30, PPD had $669.2 million in cash and investments, according to a press release.

“Even though we continued to face challenging market conditions, PPD delivered strong earnings for the quarter,” said David Grange, chief executive officer of PPD, in a statement. “We remain very optimistic about the long-term prospects for the CRO industry as a whole, continue to believe we are particularly well positioned for the long term and are firmly committed to pursuing our strategic initiatives to maximize value for all our stakeholders.”