Approximately 25% of patients who are admitted to a hospital will have an indwelling catheter at some point during their stay and 7% of nursing home residents are managed by long term catheterization . In the United States there are 25 million Foley catheters sold annually and there are 75 million catheters sold elsewhere yielding a total global Foley catheter market of 100 million units worldwide.

Catheter associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is the most common nosocomial infection in hospitals and nursing homes, representing over 40% of all HAIs and 20 % of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) HAIs . The risk of acquiring CAUTI depends on the method and duration of catheterization and patient susceptibility. It develops in up to 25% of patients requiring a urinary catheter for more than 7 days with a daily risk of developing an infection between 3 and 7%  , . The frequent use of antibiotics for the treatment of UTIs is a significant contributor to the increasing antibiotic resistance of bacteria. UTI associated bacteremia (blood poisioning) occurs in about 5% of cases .

There are over 1 million cases annually. The cost to treat a simple CAUTI has been estimated at $675 per case whereas the cost of treating bacteremia is $3,800 per patient. This yields a total healthcare burden of $830 million dollars per year. There are currently both antibiotic and silver coated catheters in the market which sell for approximately $10 above the non-antimicrobial equivalent. The potential market for NO dosed Foley catheters is $1 billion.