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8,760 hours.

One year of life. A patient may spend five of them with their doctor. The other 8,755, nobody measures.

I support the 8,760 hoursBecome a partner company

Two minutes to understand why.

The film is in French. The transcript below is in English.

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  1. 8,760 hours a year.

    A year has eight thousand seven hundred and sixty hours.

  2. Five with the doctor. The rest, at home.

    A patient may spend five of them with their doctor. All the rest, they live with their illness at home.

  3. Nobody sees them.

    Their flare-ups, their sleepless nights, their good days too. Nobody sees them. Research does not measure them.

  4. Hours on the road for a simple measurement.

    For a simple measurement, they are brought back to hospital: hours on the road, working days lost. And those who live far from the large centres are often left out of studies.

  5. Expensive, slow research.

    Clinical research is expensive, moves slowly, and new treatments reach patients later.

  6. Research where the patient lives.

    We built another way: following patients at home, with their consent, on their own phone and with connected devices.

  7. Data fit for clinical research.

    Research teams finally see the real lives of their patients, in a single dataset, designed for the demands of clinical research.

  8. Designed in Switzerland. Data protected, never sold.

    Designed in Switzerland, at the Biopôle in Épalinges. The data stays protected, and is never sold.

  9. Several more months of life.

    Published studies have shown it: in patients with cancer, monitoring symptoms remotely was associated with several more months of life.

  10. 15 January 2027: new European rules.

    From the fifteenth of January two thousand and twenty-seven, new European rules govern research outside the hospital. Our platform is designed to meet them.

  11. Deployed and tested at CHUV.

    Founded by Paulo Martins, who came from Swiss watchmaking, the platform has been deployed and tested at CHUV in Lausanne. It is ready for Swiss patients.

  12. Friend · Partner · Founding partner

    Three ways to get involved. Friend of Vitruvian Shield: your name among our partners. Partner: a private demonstration, and a text ready for your sustainability report. Founding partner: your name associated with the campaign, and a joint public appearance.

  13. A visible commitment to health in Switzerland.

    Your company shows its commitment to health in Switzerland in concrete terms, to its customers and its employees. Without any access to health data, and in full transparency.

  14. Become a partner. Support us in one click.

    Swiss companies, become partners of the eight thousand seven hundred and sixty hours. And all of you, support us for free, in one click.

  15. So that every hour counts.

    Vitruvian Shield. So that every hour counts.

Manifesto

8,760 hours. That is one year of life. A patient may spend five of them with their doctor. The other 8,755 they live at home. Their flare-ups, their fatigue, their sleepless nights, their good days too. Nobody sees them. Research does not measure them.

So patients are brought back to hospital for a blood test, a questionnaire, a measurement that takes a few minutes. Hours on the road, working days lost, families called in to help. And clinical studies that are expensive, move slowly and see only a tiny part of real life.

We have spent years building another way, here at the Biopôle in Épalinges: a platform that follows patients at home, with their consent, on their own phone and with connected devices, and makes that data fit for clinical research.

This matters. Published studies have shown it: in patients with cancer, simply monitoring their symptoms remotely was associated with several extra months of survival.

Basch E. et al., JAMA 2017 (electronic symptom monitoring during chemotherapy, median survival 31.2 versus 26.0 months); Denis F. et al., Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2017 (web-based symptom monitoring in lung cancer, median survival 19 versus 12 months). These results are those of these studies, not of Vitruvian Shield.

Today we want patients in Switzerland to be the first to benefit. We are not asking you for a donation. We are asking you to be among those who made it possible.

Paulo Martins, founder of Vitruvian Shield

Why I am writing to you

I began my working life in Swiss watchmaking, a world where time is measured with obsessive precision. When I moved into healthcare, I found the opposite: a patient's life is still measured in a few minutes of consultation. From the Biopôle in Épalinges, I set out to change that. Our platform has been deployed and tested at CHUV; today it is ready to follow patients at home, with the rigour that clinical research demands. We are missing one thing: for Switzerland, where it was born, to be the first to benefit. That is why I am writing to you.

Paulo Martins, founder of Vitruvian Shield

What it changes

  • Fewer journeys

    Fewer round trips to hospital for a measurement that takes a few minutes, for patients and for those close to them.

  • Fewer lost days

    Follow-up that no longer costs the patient and their family days of work.

  • Nobody left out

    Patients in the valleys, in remote regions or with reduced mobility can take part in research.

  • Faster research

    Studies that are better followed, less costly and closer to real life.

  • Protected data

    With the patient's consent, on their own phone, never sold.

  • A new requirement in Europe

    The new European good clinical practice rules on remotely collected data apply from 15 January 2027; Switzerland can lead the way.

Designed in Switzerland, at the Biopôle in Épalinges. Deployed and tested at CHUV.

What your support funds

The roll-out of the Vitruvian Shield platform in Switzerland: commissioning, secure hosting, and support for the first teams and the first patients followed at home. Your support gives no access to any health data and buys no influence.

Partner companies

  1. Friend of the 8,760 hours

    • Name among the partners
    • Joint LinkedIn announcement
    • Quarterly progress update

  2. Partner

    • Everything above
    • Private demonstration of the platform
    • Dedicated paragraph in the campaign sustainability report

  3. Founding partner

    • Everything above
    • Name associated with the launch
    • Joint public appearance with Paulo Martins

What your company gains

A visible commitment to health in Switzerland that your employees and customers can share.

Support with nothing in return on data, so no risk to your reputation.

Full transparency, with a written agreement and a report on how the funds are used.

Our commitments

  • No access to health data for partners.
  • No influence on research, medical choices or publications.
  • No patient data sold, ever.
  • Every partnership is set out in a written agreement.

Sponsorship amount

From CHF 1,000 to CHF 1,000,000, depending on the level chosen.

Every sponsorship is set out in a written agreement. Please speak with Paulo before making any payment.

Bank details

Beneficiary
Vitruvian Shield SA, Route de la Corniche 3, 1066 Epalinges
Bank
Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV), Lausanne
IBAN
CH47 0076 7000 S553 1861 2
BIC
BCVLCH2LXXX
Payment reference
8760 and your company name

I support the 8,760 hours

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A year has 8,760 hours. A patient spends five of them with their doctor. I support the people who want to measure the rest, from the Biopôle in Épalinges.