How Concinnity Genetics’ COO built compliant lab operations from zero, saved over 20% on equipment and consumables, and extended the company’s runway.
Gillian Hill is Chief Operating Officer at Concinnity Genetics, a spin-out company from Edinburgh University developing RNA based control systems for use in cell and gene therapy. The company spun out at the end of 2024 and is now based in Glasgow, within the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus.
As a small, newly spun-out company, Concinnity’s first objective was to get its labs and operations fully functioning and compliant in the shortest time possible – sourcing, purchasing, installing and validating equipment, all for the first time. Gillian had used MyAmici at previous companies and knew “how beneficial it is to a company,” so MyAmici was one of the first companies Concinnity contacted, at the end of Q4 2024, as soon as the laboratories were secured.
Concinnity faced a number of financial and procurement hurdles that are typical for a newly spun-out company:
Four people were covering multiple roles prior to hiring additional staff, so the company was “short on bodies” while also writing policies and SOPs from scratch.
Concinnity had budgeted for equipment but, as a brand-new company, didn’t yet have a credit history – an additional procurement hurdle on top of everything else.
The team faced post-COVID supply chain challenges getting hold of equipment and consumables – and had ordered equipment over the Christmas period, when suppliers historically shut down or slow down.
“Traditionally everybody reverts, when you don’t have any systems in place, to Excel spreadsheets and bits of paper – getting sign-offs and passing these around and emailing information from one to another. It’s very laborious. It’s quite old fashioned and very time consuming.”
Gillian knew MyAmici was “a wee bit more than just software, a wee bit more just than procurement.” For the project to set up Concinnity’s labs, she needed a group of people who understood the company’s needs and could work with the team – and that’s exactly what MyAmici provided.
The MyAmici team took time to understand Concinnity’s technical requirements and budget expectations. Their scientific background and real-life lab experience gave them wide-ranging technical knowledge, including an understanding of the latest models of equipment.
This gave Concinnity’s scientists confidence in selecting and future-proofing the best-in-class equipment – looking not just at immediate needs, but at what would be scalable and expandable in the future.
MyAmici was “extremely organised” and dealt with the tendering process, quotations and summarising comparative quotations from suppliers – all the legwork that Concinnity didn’t have to do itself.
Communication was excellent from the start of the process through to delivery, installation, validation – and even post-use check-ins, just to make sure everything was okay.
Deadlines were always met, even over the Christmas period – “which was extraordinary, because we really didn’t expect things to progress as quickly.” Updates were always timely, with clear notes and clear actions.
MyAmici worked as closely with Concinnity as if they were on site – and actually did come on site a couple of times, when they knew a lot of orders were arriving, just to make sure everything ran smoothly.
“Nothing seemed too much trouble. We really felt they were invested in our setup as much as we were, and we feel we’ve been very well looked after.”
When Concinnity came to MyAmici, its labs were kitted out and operational within a couple of months of accessing the new facility – a timeline Gillian believes “probably would have taken us double that time” without MyAmici’s help. Savings via MyAmici meant Concinnity came in under budget too: “it’s a win-win situation,” Gillian says, “because the savings are not only in cost but in time as well.” Using MyAmici early on extended the company’s runway through both reduced set-up time and cost savings – roughly a couple of months of time, and at least 20% in savings.
“We certainly couldn’t have had the level of discount on all the consumables that we purchase now as a small company. There’s absolutely no way that we could get that. The buying power that MyAmici has is much greater than the small savings that we could make on maybe one or two items.”
Gillian points out that the traditional method of raising purchase orders and sending them around “feels very old fashioned” – and asks, if everybody likes to order online elsewhere, “why can’t we have that in Biotech?” Concinnity’s team had never used the MyAmici software before, but after a short training session, everyone was up and running quickly. Gillian says the system is “very intuitive” and that users “can’t imagine ordering any other way.”
Gillian’s key role in operations is implementing lean, scalable and compliant processes – so that scientists can focus on science, and the CFO can focus on the wisest use of funds, without unnecessary administrative tasks. Across Concinnity, that shows up differently for every team:
“Lab staff love the system. It provides an easy method for ordering, approval, visibility.”
“Management love the system because they get visibility and the easy approval process. They can keep their tabs on how much is getting spent at any one point.”
“Operations love it, obviously, as it streamlines the process and allows easier project management.”
“Finance love the traceability, compliance, cost savings and reduced admin.”
Gillian also points out that procurement systems aren’t just for large companies: “the cost benefits for SMEs speak for themselves.” In her experience, other purchasing consortiums offer neither the software capabilities nor the level of support that MyAmici does – and other SMEs she’s spoken to “can’t believe how they managed before they implemented MyAmici.”
“Time and money gives you a longer runway – and that’s exactly what we’ve had from implementing MyAmici.”
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