The Bronchipret product family has been long and successfully used for the treatment of acute bronchitis which is commonly characterized by inflammation, cough and viscous mucus hypersecretion. Treatment efficacy has been proven for the main products Bronchipret Syrup (thyme-ivy extract combination) and Bronchipret film-coated tablets (thyme-primula root extract combination) in state-of–the-art clinical trials. However, until recently, understanding of the mechanisms of action underlying the clinical efficacy has been sparse. Over the last decade a comprehensive preclinical program - comprising several in vitro and in vivo models relevant for the indication – has been carried out, the outcome providing exciting insights into the pharmacodynamic effects of these herbal medicinal products. Not surprisingly, these studies suggest multi-modal therapeutic activity for Bronchipret: primarily anti-inflammatory, cough-soothing, and mucus-regulatory activities have been demonstrated. By applying tiered approaches combining in vivo and in vitro studies effects on pivotal aspects of mucus production as well as on key steps in inflammatory mediator production have been identified as reasonable molecular mechanisms of action. This review will provide an overview of a strategy to elucidate the pharmacological activity of a longtime established herbal medicinal product based on its known clinical therapeutic effects and presents the experimental findings on the pharmacological activities. It will also address a prospect on future tasks and challenges to help raise herbal medicinal products from an obscure mass of traditional herbal medicines to an eye-to-eye level with chemical synthetic products further advancing the road towards an evidence-based phytomedicine.