LONDON (Alliance News) - Equity research firm Align Research on Thursday claimed a statement by WideCells Group PLC was "factually incorrect".
Shares in WideCells were down 7.7% at 0.36 pence on Friday afternoon.
On Wednesday, WideCells said it had "terminated the engagement of Align Research" with immediate effect due to a change in the WideCells strategy.
Align rejected this announcement, saying: "The RNS from the company stating that Widecells had terminated the agreement with us is factually incorrect – this was by mutual agreement at, in fact, Align's instigation."
Align also said it has attempted, in recent weeks, to secure "a precise understanding" of WiceCells' present capital position but said its information requests "went unheeded".
On Friday, WideCells reported that European High Growth Opportunities Securitization Fund, represented by management company European High Growth Opportunities Manco SA, had reduced its holding to 15% from 21%.
The deal took place on Wednesday, with European High Growth Opportunities Securitization Fund holding 153.1 million WideCells shares as a result.
In March, WideCells revealed its plan to create a new division focused on marketing and move away from stem cell research, hiring a new chief executive and new chief business officer from social media publisher Unilad Group Ltd. WideCells intends to change its name to Iconic Labs PLC.