Meet Yug, Phyla’s Founder

Yug Varma, Ph.D.

A scientist by background, Yug received his training at distinguished academic institutions including Johns Hopkins University (Ph.D.) and University of California, San Francisco. As a microbiologist and synthetic biologist with a background in organic chemistry, Yug has spent his career working at the intersection of microbiome research, synthetic biology, and next-generation sequencing. This research led to his desire to develop the next generation of live biologic products to treat chronic microbial diseases.

While developing this technology, Yug discovered an application to tackle acne which he quickly realized is a serious problem without a safe, high-quality solution on the market. So he set out to build Phyla and the 3-Step Phyla Phage System, to meet the unmet consumer need for clean, effective skincare and acne-fighting products.

Phyla’s breakthrough technology uses a naturally occurring organism called bacteriophage (phage, for short) that specifically targets the overgrowth of acne bacteria. This phage has been shown to flourish in healthy skin, but is nearly absent on acne-affected skin. Yug decided to democratize this revolutionary organism, put it in a bottle, and make it accessible to everyone who needs it.

Phyla’s research has received support from UCSF and the NIH through research grants. It is the culmination of 6 years of cutting-edge R&D. Phyla is changing the way we treat conditions like acne — and making harsh acne treatments like benzoyl peroxide obsolete.