Neil Woodford, whose asset management boutique has gathered £14 billion in less than two years since launch, has admitted the value of his most recent startup investment fund has taken a recent “hammering”, driven by a steep correction in the biotech sector.

The Patient Capital Trust was Woodford's second fund offering and launched in April 2015 with the slogan "Championing growth and supporting the best of British". According to FE Trustnet, the fund had risen almost 20% by mid July 2015 but the 100p units have now slid to 87.76p, a fall of 12.24% since launch.