[E-Daily Reporter NA EUN-KYUNG ] Dong-A Pharmaceutical announced on the 30th that it has launched “Wistro,” a health functional food containing Yellow Sea Mugwort Extract Powder (Gastil®), an ingredient individually recognized for stomach health.

Wistro was developed to help manage stomach health amid various dietary habits, such as irregular meals, frequent dining out, and consumption of spicy or irritating foods. Each tablet contains seven nutrients—including the key ingredient, Yellow Sea Mugwort Extract Powder, as well as Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, zinc, folic acid, Vitamin E, and selenium. It is recommended to take one tablet once a day with water.

The number of patients with gastrointestinal disorders in Korea is on the rise. According to the Health Care Big Data Open System of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of such patients increased from approximately 9.6 million in 2020 to 11 million in 2024, representing an average annual growth rate of about 4%. During the same period, the proportion of patients in their 30s among the total patient population rose by 2.2 percentage points, while that of patients in their 20s increased by 1.7 percentage points.

The market for dietary supplements related to stomach health is also expanding. According to data compiled by Dong-A Pharmaceutical based on information from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and other sources, the market size increased approximately 6.6-fold, from 9.2 billion won in 2020 to 60.8 billion won in 2023. During the same period, the market for stomach-health-related pharmaceuticals also grew by about 34%, from 946.7 billion won to 1.2666 trillion won.

Yellow Sea Mugwort Extract Powder, the key ingredient in Wistro, is an individually recognized functional ingredient that has been approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for its stomach health benefits. Dong-A Pharmaceutical studied its effects on the protection and regeneration of the gastric mucosa through cell and animal experiments and conducted human clinical trials on adults with functional dyspepsia.

The human clinical trial was conducted over 12 weeks using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design involving 93 adults with functional dyspepsia. The results showed significant improvements compared to the placebo group across four evaluation metrics: the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS), the Gastrointestinal Symptom Questionnaire (GIS), the Korean version of the Nepian Dyspepsia Index (NDI-K), and the Dyspepsia-Related Quality of Life (FD-QoL). Specifically, significant improvements were observed in abdominal pain, heartburn, acid reflux, and bloating.

Dong-A Pharmaceutical has also established a domestic supply base for Yellow Sea mugwort. Last year, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Institute of Horticultural and Special Crops Science under the Rural Development Administration to expand the commercialization of “Pyeongan-ae,” a new variety of Yellow Sea mugwort, and subsequently established a contract farming system with farms certified under the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) program.

A Dong-A Pharmaceutical official stated, “More and more people are paying attention to stomach health due to irregular meals and unhealthy eating habits,” adding, “Wistro is a product developed to allow people to easily incorporate it into their daily routines and maintain their stomach health.”