Asthma is an incurable chronic inflammatory lung disease, caused by a wide range of allergens and the population of asthma patients has been rising worldwide. Codonopsis lanceolate, a long-used culinary and medicinal herb in East Asia, has been shown in research to have anti-cancer, anti-obesity, and anti-inflammatory properties. Asthma is related to an imbalance favoring Th2 factors, particularly IL-4 and IL-13, which promote IgE secretion, eosinophilia, mucus hypersecretion, and airway remodeling. Because of the importance of the inhibition effect of IL-4 and IL-13 against asthma occurrence, we confirmed that Codonopsis lanceolate treatment effectively suppressed the expression of IL-4 and IL-13 via down-regulating GATA-3 levels. Codonopsis lanceolate treatment induced apoptosis in Th2 cells and pulmonary epithelial cells via the NF-κB/COX-2 pathway, suggesting Codonopsis lanceolate potential as an anti-asthmatic drug targeting this pathway.​