Woodford’s Allied holding falls on $150m writedown

Shares in the Neil Woodford-backed Allied Minds tanked 15% today after the investment firm set out plans for a $147 million (£118 million) writedown.

Allied — which tries to make money out of universities’ and laboratories’ inventions — said seven subsidiaries are being dumped — either put up for sale or liquidated. Shares fell 41.3p to 219.7p.

It’s an embarrassment for fund manager Woodford (pictured), who owns just under a third of Allied and calls it “profoundly undervalued”.

And only a month ago Allied’s co-founder and chief executive Chris Silva stepped down.

The rejected firms include medical device-maker Biotectix and RF Biocidics, which works on killing disease in food manufacture.

“Attention will be focused in particular on our more advanced subsidiaries and most promising early-stage companies,” Boston-based Allied said.

Jill Smith, interim chief executive, claimed the move was a “necessary step in refocusing the company on the areas where we have most potential.

“Though many of the discontinued subsidiaries have demonstrated progress against technical milestones, the path to commercialisation is unlikely to yield appropriate financial returns.”