Seventeen companies in 18 years. That’s about as prolific as any entrepreneur-VC partnership in history. And when you’re talking about an MIT Institute Professor (and his collaborators) and the co-founder of Polaris Venture Partners (and his colleagues), that adds significant weight to the achievement.

Earlier this month, Bob Langer from MIT and Terry McGuire from Polaris treated Xconomy and our “VC65” event audience to a discussion of their collaboration over the years. They talked about their formula for creating and building life sciences companies based around six elements: platform technologies, tangible products, pioneering science, patents, real data, and a collaborative team environment. (You can also check out video of an earlier in-depth chat with Langer and McGuire, moderated by my colleague Wade, for more on how the duo goes about building companies.)

McGuire also presented a series of slides that captured the history and impact of the two-decade collaboration (see below). Call it the Langer-Polaris family tree—it shows their 17 startups in roughly chronological order (newer ones at the top), with branches that signify contributions from key collaborators and founders such as MIT’s Michael Cima (MicroCHIPS, TransForm, T2, Taris) and Ram Sasisekharan (Momenta, Cerulean, Visterra), and Harvard’s David Edwards (AIR, Pulmatrix).

“To be clear, I am not the only Polaris person to work with Bob, and some of the branches of the tree lead to companies where Bob is not the principal founder (such as Cerulean),” McGuire told me via e-mail. “Still, they all started with the relationship to Langer.”

From what I can tell, all the companies are either still in business or have been acquired—which is impressive in itself. Still, it’s hard to say if there has been a home run among the companies yet (we’re willing to give them a little more time). Some of the bigger financial hits have included AIR (bought by Alkermes for more than $100 million in 1999), Momenta Pharmaceuticals (IPO in 2004), and TransForm Pharmaceuticals (bought by Johnson & Johnson for $230 million in 2005).

Here are three snapshots of the company tree: The first shows the scientists and Polaris VCs involved with each company; the second shows the types of therapy they’re developing; and the third shows the companies’ potential impact on patient populations (a total of more than 1 billion lives potentially affected).

Companies and founders:

Primary therapeutic areas:

Potential lives touched (estimates of patient populations, in millions):

And below is a full list of the 17 companies, with links to our coverage:

Acusphere (NASDAQ: ACUS)

AIR (Advanced Inhalation Research, acquired by Alkermes in 1999)

Arsenal Medical

BIND Biosciences

Cerulean Pharma (formerly Tempo Pharma)

Kala Pharmaceuticals

Living Proof

MicroCHIPS

Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MNTA)

Pervasis Therapeutics

Pulmatrix

Selecta Biosciences

Seventh Sense Biosystems

T2 Biosystems

Taris Biomedical

TransForm Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2005)

Visterra (formerly Parasol Therapeutics)

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The latest venture capital stats for the first quarter of 2011 are a mixed bag. Maybe it’ll take a little longer for the Boston area to witness what a lot of people are calling the new tech bubble.

Venture firms poured $639 million into 90 New England companies in the first three months of this year. That’s down 19 percent from the $790 million that was invested (in 102 deals) in the same period a year ago. But it’s a 13 percent increase over the $566 million (in 93 deals) in the fourth quarter of 2010.

That’s all according to the MoneyTree Report, prepared by the National Venture Capital Association, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Thomson Reuters. (The trend is in rough agreement with the Massachusetts numbers from CB Insights, which my colleague Bruce summarized yesterday.)

Looking at the 10 biggest New England investments from the quarter (see below), about half of them were biotech-related, but the top deal went to Harvest Power, a waste-to-energy startup. And tech/software companies accounted for three deals.

Here’s the top 10 VC deals list for the first quarter, according to MoneyTree, with links to our coverage:

1. Harvest Power, Waltham, MA, $51.7 million

2. RainDance Technologies, Lexington, MA, $37.5 million

3. Genocea Biosciences, Cambridge, MA, $35.1 million

4. HubSpot, Cambridge, MA, $32 million

5. CardioFocus, Marlborough, MA, $30.6 million

6. Movik Networks, Littleton, MA, $25 million

7. Constitution Medical Investors, Boston, MA, $20 million (a little bit about this investment firm here)

8. Euthymics Bioscience, Cambridge, MA, $17.2 million

9. Living Proof, Cambridge, MA, $16 million

10. Gemvara, Lexington, MA, $15 million

And here are some other notable financings we’ve seen in the past three months that didn’t make MoneyTree’s top 10 list from Q1:

—Blueprint Medicines, Cambridge, MA, $40 million (might count for Q2 2011)

—Qteros, Marlborough, MA, $22 million (might be from Q4 2010)

—Jumptap, Cambridge, MA, $20 million (company hasn’t confirmed any details)

—iWalk, Cambridge, MA, $15 million (might be from Q4 2010)

—SCVNGR, Cambridge, MA, $15 million (might be from Q4 2010)

—SustainX, West Lebanon, NH, $14.4 million

—ExaGrid Systems, Westborough, MA, $10.6 million (the only Boston-area firm in the Wall Street Journal’s recent list of top 50 venture-backed companies)

—DataXu, Boston, MA, $10 million (from the MoneyTree list, but not reported in the media)

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New England’s biotech attorneys must be working overtime, if the week’s headlines are any indication.

—Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam (NASDAQ:ALNY) announced it had settled a long-standing legal dispute over the so-called Tuschl I and Tuschl II patent families. The suit, which involved key players in the field of RNA-interference including Alnylam, Max Planck Society, the University of Massachusetts, and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, began in June of 2009 and was slated to go to trial this month.

—No sooner did Alnylam wrap up that litigation than it was hit with a huge lawsuit from its Vancouver, BC-based partner Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, which is accusing Alnylam of misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, and more—and is seeking damages of more than $1 billion. The suit centers on technology for delivering RNAi therapeutics—a notorious challenge in the field. For its part, Alnylam called Tekmira’s complaint “without merit or foundation,” and said it intends to defend itself fully.

—Elsewhere in Cambridge, Genzyme (NASDAQ:GENZ) faced a lawsuit as well. It and Mt. Sinai Medical School are being sued by six patients with Fabry disease over the handling of a rationing system for agalsidase beta (Fabrazyme), Genzyme’s treatment for Fabry. Supplies of the drug were short following a temporary closure in 2009 of the company’s Allston, MA, plant.

—In non-legal news, Cambridge based Tolerx and its partner GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) reported that otelixizumab, their experimental drug for Type 1 diabetes, failed to meet its main clinical goal in a late-stage study called Defend-1. While the companies are … Next Page »

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This week’s deal news spanned companies working on marketing, energy, daily deals, medical devices, and beauty products.

—Retroficiency, a Boston-based software-as-a-service firm focused on energy efficiency, announced it had raised $800,000 in funding from Worcester, MA-based energy management services firm World Energy (NASDAQ: XWES). Angel investors, including Jean Hammond and Jill Preotle, also provided funding for the startup, whose software tells consumers what the energy impact will be if they make changes to things like lighting systems, set points, and insulation.

—Andover, MA-based Stonewedge, a stealth firm focused on improving healthcare for seniors, raised $1 million in equity-based funding, an SEC filing showed.

—Nimbus, a computer-based drug discovery startup of Cambridge, MA, nabbed an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Bill Gates and Schrödinger, a global chemical simulation firm it is partnering with.

—Cambridge drug developer Epizyme scored $6 million upfront in a deal with Japanese drugmaker Eisai to develop drugs against an epigenetic enzyme for treating lymphomas and other cancers, and could earn another $200 million in milestones for research, development, and sales goals tied to the enzyme target.

—Clovr Media, a Boston-based online marketing startup with technology for linking discounts to credit and debit cards, snapped up $8.3 million in a funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures managing director Jeffrey Glass. The financing also included return Clovr investors Kepha Partners and CommonAngels, and newly announced angel investor Mark Wright.

—New York- and Boston-based group buying startup BuyWithMe acquired LocalTwist, a daily deals site running in Seattle and San Diego and soon to be more cities. The move sends a competitive message to Seattle-based Tippr, another group buying startup in Seattle that has filed lawsuits against BuyWithMe, one alleging patent infringement and another that claims one of its former employees provided … Next Page »

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Pilates is famous for shaping up peoples’ buttocks, tummies, and thighs. But what can the popularity of this fitness phenomenon and the market for health products do for investment portfolios? Cambridge, MA-based Lighter Living, which operates a health and fitness website that features Pilates expert and company founder Marjolein Brugman, has raised $3 million in an equity round of financing, according to an SEC filing.

Brugman, who appears to have pioneered an aerobic version of Pilates called AeroPilates, is listed in the regulatory filing as an executive and director of Lighter Living. There’s also a big name in venture investing involved with the firm: Michael Greeley, a founder and general partner of Boston-based venture firm Flybridge Capital Partners, who is listed as a director of Lighter Living. Neither Brugman nor Greeley was immediately available for comment this morning, but a spokeswoman for Flybridge confirmed that the firm is backing the company.

At first glance Lighter Living—which sells fitness and wellness products and offers health tips and insights from Brugman on its website—doesn’t seem like a typical bet for Greeley. However, he’s always told me that he is interested in businesses in which healthcare and information technology intersect. Previously, his interest in healthcare and IT has been manifest in investments he has led for Flybridge in companies such as Bedford, MA-based MicroCHIPS, a developer of micro-devices for medical uses, and business software firm BlueTarp Financial, of Portland, ME.

Yet Lighter Living does address a huge market demand for products that help people look and feel youthful, and there is an emerging trend of interest in this market among venture capitalists. Polaris Venture Partners is backing Cambridge, MA-based Living Proof, a provider of hair-care products based on advances in polymer science at MIT and other research institutions. Investments in the likes of Living Proof and Lighter Living could provide a boost for both consumers’ looks and venture portfolios’ outlooks.

Flybridge’s investment in Lighter Living is “building on [Brugman's] success in the healthy living market,” said Kate Castle, a spokeswoman for the venture firm. She said that Brugman has sold more than $500 million in healthy living products on the TV shopping channel QVC over the past 12 years.

Lighter Living is planning an official launch in 2010, Castle said.

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Our Seattle compatriots have all arrived in Boston for XSITE. We wish we could say they brought the rain with them, but in fact, Boston has been far wetter than Seattle all month. The week’s life sciences news, however, isn’t quite the downpour you’ve all been dealing with outside.

—Wide-roaming correspondent Ryan McBride took in some sea air while attending the Convergence conference in Newport, RI. Policy wonks abounded, as the health care industry is nervously awaiting changes to federal patent standards, generic biotech drug regulation, and healthcare coverage. Ryan gathered insights on GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK)’s purchase of Cambridge, MA-based Sirtis last spring from Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ) CEO Henri Termeer’s account of a conversation he had with Sirtis CEO Christoph Westphal. For all this and more, check out his report.

—Ryan also profiled PubGet, a Cambridge-based scholarly search engine aiming to provide faster, more useful results than the likes of GoogleScholar and PubMed. Instead of clicking through multiple links to get to the paper, a PubGet search will take you directly to a full-text PDF (assuming your institution has access). PubGet’s just announced that 50 research institutions have adopted its service.

—Marlborough, MA-based Exact Sciences is going back home to where the buffalo roam. The colorectal cancer test maker is relocating to Wisconsin after securing a $1 million loan from the Badger State.

—ImmunoGen (NASDAQ: IMGN), which produces technology to aid the effectiveness of antibody drugs, raised $33 million, after expenses, through a stock offering. The Waltham company sold 5 million shares at $7 apiece.

—Cambridge’s Living Proof, which aims to apply advanced materials science to beauty products, raised $9 million in an equity financing round. The funds came from Polaris Venture Partners, the sole venture backer of the company. Living Proof recently debuted its first product, the hair treatment NoFrizz.

—I-Therapeutix, a Waltham-based maker of tiny hydrogel-based eye bandages, landed $15 million in venture capital during a Series C Financing round. Between this latest news and the recent clearance of its flagship product, the I-Zip bandage, in European markets, I-Therapeutix is sitting pretty. The company hopes to enter the American market early next year, and is currently batting its lashes at the FDA.

—Norwich Ventures sounds like a great boss to work for. The Waltham venture firm loves to invest in medical device companies at an early stage, and unlike other, larger players, doesn’t pressure companies in its portfolio to sell or exit within five years. Hear more about their strategy in Ryan’s piece here.

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Living Proof, a Cambridge, MA-based startup that applies advanced material science to the beauty industry, has adopted interactive online shopping software developed by fellow venture-backed Cambridge firm Allurent, according to a press release. Living Proof, which has been well chronicled for its products that combat frizzy hair, will use Allurent’s software and widgets to provide interactive experiences to shoppers on its e-commerce website. Joe Chung, the co-founder and CEO of Allurent, is also a co-founder and former chief technology officer of e-commerce software firm Art Technology Group (NASDAQ:ARTG), based in Cambridge.

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Since I wrote about Living Proof this summer, we’ve had a flurry of comments and questions about the Cambridge, MA-based firm’s biotech-inspired products for combating frizzy hair. And my Xconomy colleagues and I have had some questions of our own about the company and its wares, so I recently caught up with Living Proof CEO Rob Robillard and co-founder Amir Nashat, of Polaris Venture Partners, to get some answers.

Living Proof was keeping details about its operations and products close to the vest late this summer, in part (I later learned) because the startup had gotten word from Allure magazine that its “No Frizz” products would be among Allure’s “beauty breakthroughs of the year” and not to talk about them before the magazine’s story came out in October. Now Living Proof, which even drew a mention on the Today Show for its technology last month, is planning a series of launches for the products over the next several months, Robillard told me. And Polaris’ Nashat filled me in on the genesis of the company.

First, however, Robillard shed some light on the technology behind the three-year-old firm’s anti-frizz line. The key ingredient in all the products: a lightweight material called polyflouroester, which Allure describes as an ingredient in coatings for CDs and contact lenses. The substance, Robillard says, combats frizz by both coating porous hair shafts, preventing water from penetrating them, and by smoothing over hair cuticles to prevent surface friction. He argues that polyflouroester prevents frizz better than silicone used in other products because its molecules’ smaller size enables them to fit into tiny pores in our hair that silicone molecules cannot get into.

Robillard says he decided to start selling a limited supply of the hair products back in September on the Living Proof’s Web site, and then the firm struck a deal with QVC to sell off the rest of its initial batch of products on the home-shopping channel. (Robillard didn’t provide sales figures, but he mentioned that as of two weeks ago QVC had nearly sold out.) In the first quarter of 2009, Living Proof plans to fully launch its no-frizz products on QVC, its Web site, and at Sephora beauty shops.

What’s next? While shielding details of future products from competitors in the beauty industry, Robillard says that Living Proof plans … Next Page »

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This week it was insanely humid in the Boston area, so we were relieved to learn that Living Proof had begun selling its frizz-fighting hair products online. That, and the rest of the week’s (perhaps more weighty) life sciences news, below.

—Luke caught up with Millennium Pharmaceuticals CEO Deborah Dunsire four months after her Cambridge, MA-based firm was taken over by Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical. Dunsire reports that the $8.8 billion acquisition has been good to Millennium—Takeda has giving the Cambridge outfit a lot of autonomy and room to grow, and has entrusted it with the responsibility for not only the drugs in its own pipeline but also for overseeing clinical trials for 10 cancer drugs from the Japanese firm’s worldwide discovery operations.

—Cambridge, MA-based Living Proof, the super-secretive developer of super-scientific salon products, launched a one-month online sale of its anti-frizz hair sprays, creams, and the like. Still no word on exactly what new technology is in there, but the Polaris Venture Partners-backed startup has ties to some heavyweight inventors from MIT and Harvard.

—Swiss drug giant Novartis unveiled plans for a new vaccine-research facility in Cambridge, MA. By the end of next year Novartis expects to add an additional 150 employees in Cambridge, boosting its presence here to more than 1,800 workers.

—Dredging up some memories from eighth-grade biology (homeostasis ring any bells?) Luke took a closer look at the science behind Cambridge, MA-based Proteostasis Therapeutics, which recently raised an eye-popping $45 million first round of financing from HealthCare Ventures, Fidelity Biosciences, New Enterprise Associates, Novartis Option Fund, and Genzyme Ventures. The startup is working on drugs that promote or restore the balance of proteins in the body as a novel way of confronting ailments such as Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease.

—Watertown, MA-based Enanta Pharmaceuticals launched an early stage clinical trial of EDP-322, an oral antibiotic for bacteria resistant to other potent antibiotics such as vancomycin, Pfizer’s Zyvox, and Cubist Pharmaceuticals’ Cubicin.

—Sirtris, a Cambridge, MA-based firm recently acquired by British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK), nabbed two exclusive licenses to Harvard University patents related to SIRT3, an enzyme believed to protect against cellular damage. Much of Sirtris’ research focuses on the related enzyme SIRT1.

—At a scientific meeting, Lexington, MA-based GI Dynamics presented data showing that its sleeve-like gut-lining device helps patients with Type 2 diabetes lower their blood sugar and their weight. The device, which can be inserted and removed via the mouth, could eventually provide an alternative to gastric bypass surgery.

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When I wrote last month that MIT professor Robert Langer and Polaris Venture Partners had teamed with veterans of the beauty industry, the burning question on my mind was: What would their product be? Well, I’ve just learned the answer (most of it, anyway).

Living Proof, the Cambridge, MA, startup formed to apply innovations in science to address beauty challenges, has in recent days begun to sell its first hair products on its new website. The firm claims that it’s got “the first new anti-frizz technology in over 30 years,” and for one month only customers can buy its hair sprays, creams, and the like directly from its labs. I was tempted to buy some for kicks, but with its $24 price tag, I think I’ll stick with my cheap tube of L.A. Looks “Mega X-Treme Hold” hair gel.

In true form, the secretive startup wouldn’t reveal details about its online product launch, which, sources told me, began over this past weekend. “At this point we’re not making any comments about the company or the products other than what’s on the website,” says Cassie Kelley, vice president of marketing at Living Proof. “Everything you need to know is there, for now.”

Everything? The website gives virtually no details about how its new technology combats frizz. However, here’s a patent filing I found that describes at least some of the technology that Living Proof (formerly Andora) is working on. And here is a webpage with links to descriptions of—and ingredient lists for—half a dozen of Living Proof’s frizz-fighting products. I’m no chemist, and it’s not clear to me whether these ingredients match with the technology in the patent filing or not. (If you are a chemist, feel free to share your thoughts.)

One of the inventors listed on the patent filing is Amir Nashat, a partner at Polaris Venture Partners in Waltham. Amir, the former acting president of Living Proof, is on the board of the company. Nashat has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from MIT, where he studied in Langer’s lab. Langer is also on the board of Living Proof. I tried to reach Nashat at his office yesterday without any luck.

So the mystery continues, fueled in no small part by Living Proof’s simultaneously minimalist and grandiose marketing materials. In a videotaped introduction on the new site, for instance, CEO, Rob Robillard, a veteran of beauty products giant L’Oreal, stands in front of a plain-white backdrop and says: “Everything we do in Living Proof… is about creating science that has never been used in this industry before.” He follows it up with a series of similarly non-specific statements about the company’s scientific pedigree and approach. But his hair looks pretty good the whole way through.

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While many of us were cutting out early for the holiday weekend, and to enjoy the last week of summer, New England tech and life sciences firms were cutting a surprising number of deals.

—Tufts spinoff Quanterix closed the second half of a $15 million financing round from Arch Venture Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, and Flagship Ventures. Luke talked with the Cambridge, MA-based firm’s CEO about its technology for pinpointing minute quantities of proteins in a patient’s blood that might serve as early warning signals for cancer, Alzehimer’s disease, or other ailments.

—Lexington, MA-based Mall Networks, which creates online malls that give loyalty cardholders bonus points for shopping, raised $7 million in a Series B investment led by Dace Ventures and joined by previous investors Flybridge Capital Partners, Venture Capital Fund of New England, and LBO Enterprises.

—Living Proof of Cambridge, MA, raised $7 million Series A-3 financing from Polaris Venture Partners and other investors. Though it tries to keep a low profile, the startup is using the expertise of some very high-profile scientists, investors, and executives to address the multi-billion-dollar market for beauty products.

—Cambridge, MA-based JumpTap, which provides mobile Web search and advertising technology for a variety of phones from AT&T, Alltel, Boost Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and a host of other carriers, closed a $26 million Series D financing round. The deal was led by AllianceBernstein and joined by existing investors General Catalyst Partners, Summerhill Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Valhalla Partners, and WPP.

—Specialty pharmaceutical maker Indevus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INDEV) raised $105 million in a private placement of notes secured by royalties for Sanctura, the Lexington, MA-based firm’s drug for overactive bladder.

—Software-defined-radio startup Vanu of Cambridge, MA, reportedly took in $32 million a Series B venture round from Charles River Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, and Tata Capital. The firm’s technology allows wireless operators to broadcast to use multiple standards such as GSM and CDMA.

—Dover, NH-based Salient Surgical Technologies, a maker of blood-vessel-sealing devices, pulled its planned $86.25 million initial public offering.

—Boston-based uLocate inked a deal to provide local information and mapping services for Sprint’s new nationwide WiMax network, XOHM, now under construction.

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There were some exciting venture deals this past week, and some great in-depth reporting about Boston-area life sciences firms on the part of Luke and Ryan. In case you missed any of it….

—Ryan did some sleuthing on a stealthy startup down the street from Xconomy’s headquarters in Kendall Square, MA, and uncovered (at least partially) Living Proof. With a board that includes MIT’s Robert Langer and Polaris Venture Partners as an investor, the startup is leveling some impressive scientific and business firepower against bad hair days and other cosmetic complaints—and it has $7 million in new financing to buoy its quest for beauty.

—Brand-new Boston-area startup Proteostasis Therapeutics closed a massive $45 million Series A financing from HealthCare Ventures, Fidelity BioSciences, New Enterprise Associates, Novartis BioVenture Fund, and Genzyme Ventures. The firm is aiming to develop small-molecule treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, emphysema, and other ailments that work by helping the body maintain normal protein production.

—Medical diagnostics startup Quanterix, a Tufts University spinoff in Cambridge, MA, reportedly raised $15 million in a Series A financing from Arch Venture Partners, Bain Capital, and Flagship Ventures. The startup is developing tools capable of identifying single molecules in human blood.

—Just hired to head the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center—the agency that will administer the state’s $1 billion funding initiative—Susan Windham-Bannister shared her goals and plans for the center in a lengthy interview with Luke. (He had the good sense to save the hard questions for part 2.)

—Wondering what happens to the IP when a biotech goes bust? Ryan caught up with Wellesley, MA, accountant Joseph Finn, who puts defunct firms’ patents on the auction block.

—Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals raised $4 million in an add-on to a $25 million Series B financing round that the Bedford, MA-based company closed in April. Atlas Venture, Flagship Ventures, Radius Ventures, CHL Medical Partners, Biogen Idec, and QVT Fund are supporting the startup’s efforts to turn fish-oil science into treatments for a host of inflammatory diseases.

—Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ) of Cambridge, MA, and the nonprofit Medicines for Malaria Venture formed an alliance with India’s Advinus Therapeutics to develop new treatments for pregnant women and infants infected with malaria.

—The FDA said that it is working with Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) and Elan (NYSE: ELN) to update the labeling for Tysabri following confirmation that two multiple sclerosis patients on the drug had contracted the often-fatal brain infection PML.

—Lexington, MA-based Indevus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INDEV) raised $105 million in a private placement of notes; the cash is intended to retire existing debt and carry Indevus into calendar 2010.

—Bob gave a sneak peek of our September 23 forum, How to Build a Life Sciences Company. Robert Langer will be a keynoter at the event; I’m betting it will be a good hair day for him.

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Move over Mary Kay. Some of the best and brightest brains from MIT and other research powerhouses are applying their scientific prowess to the multibillion-dollar cosmetics industry—and they’ve recruited a veteran of beauty-products giant L’Oreal to pull it off.

It’s all happening in the heart of Kendall Square, on Rogers Street (home also to Xconomy’s Cambridge, MA, headquarters), at a secretive company called Living Proof, where MIT graduates are injecting advances in chemistry and materials science into cosmetic products for hair and skin. And though Living Proof sounds a bit different from the scores of other nascent startups incubating in its neighborhood, some of the area’s usual suspects, such as Polaris Venture Partners and famous MIT professor (and Xconomist) Robert Langer, are behind the operation.

Living Proof has been brewing for a few years, previously as Andora. (In fact, the firm just closed a $7 million Series A-3 financing with Polaris and other investors, according to a report in PE Hub.) Yet many of the details of the firm have only recently been revealed on its new website, in which CEO Rob Robillard, who cut his teeth in the cosmetics industry with L’Oreal, provides a first-person take on the company, the employees, and the star-studded board of directors.

In addition to Langer, the board features former chief counsel of the FDA Peter Barton Hutt, one of the most influential food and drug attorneys in the country. The other directors include Polaris partner Amir Nashat, who came to the VC firm from Langer’s lab at MIT, and Polaris co-founder Jon Flint.

Despite Living Proof’s new Web presence, neither Nashat nor Robillard would comment on the company or the science involved in its hair and skin products. (When Nashat told me the firm is still in stealth mode I was reminded ever so slightly of John Travolta as Tony Manero: “Don’t touch the hair.”)

I did manage, though, to track down a patent application filed by the company that may shed light on the science brewing there. According to the application, conventional styling products rely on polymers “to give hair shine, to style hair, to give hair a desired texture or feel, and to repair damaged hair”—but the products aren’t as effective or long-lasting as they could be because the bulky polymer molecules are tricky to dissolve in shampoos, gels, and lotions. The application indicates that Living Proof intends … Next Page »

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