Cambridge-Based Living Proof Gets New Patent for Hair Product
Hair image via Shutterstock
By now, you’ve seen Living Proof in Sephora or ULTA, or heard about it here on Bostonmagazine.com. The company uses science and biotechnology that originated at MIT for hair care. For the first time, the company has combined its proprietary technologies into a new product launching Tuesday that Living Proof expects to “form the cornerstone of a new multi-million dollar franchise.” The company has received three Notices of Allowance and one issued patent related to its innovative hair care products so far from the U.S. government.
Living Proof was founded by Jon Flint and Amir Nashat of Polaris Partners of Waltham, an investment group focusing on healthcare, technology, and consumer sectors, and Dr. Robert Langer, the famed Institute Professor at MIT, who was awarded the 2013 Presidential Medal of Technology and Innovation by President Obama. Jennifer Aniston is a spokeswoman for the products, but now the Living Proof Facebook page says that since 2012, she’s also a co-owner.
Living Proof has 13 utility patents and Langer himself has 810 issued and pending patents worldwide for a variety of projects. “The science taking place at Living Proof is special because, instead of following the traditional formula within the hair and skin care industry, the company follows a model we knew worked well for driving innovation — the biotech industry,” Langer explains in a press release. “Living Proof is built around the scientific principle I’ve always believed in: that if you can find the root cause of the problem, you can solve it. The company is also bringing the most modern and advanced technologies, such as novel material designs and high throughput technologies, to apply to the problems in hair and skin care, and the patents we have received are evidence of the innovation we’ve achieved so far.”
The company says that new product is the first of its kind: a combination of styling and treatment in one formula. According to a press release issued by Living Proof:
The new patents expand Living Proof’s proprietary technology around OFPMA, a moisture controlling molecular shield that is designed to weightlessly smooth, condition, strengthen, polish, and extend the quality and appearance of styled hair. And for the first time, OFPMA is co-formulated with another proprietary Living Proof molecule for microscopic hair thickening, PBAE, to create a new product launched today called Perfect Hair Day (PHD): 5-in-1 Styling Treatment.
What’s on the horizon? Hair color. In fact, the company was recently awarded a new U.S. patent, entitled “Coloring Agents and Methods of Use Thereof” (U.S. Patent Number 8,444,715). This patent covers a hair coloring innovation in Living Proof’s future pipeline directed to novel dye compositions. Would you use hair color backed by MIT science? I would.
The spokespeople at Living Proof say that to date, Living Proof has more than doubled its business in 2013.
