Friends organizes conferences, forums, and working groups to educate and promote collaboration among federal health organizations, academic research centers, private companies, and patient advocacy groups.

[4] In 2011 and 2012, Friends of Cancer Research led the development of the FDA's Breakthrough Therapy designation, an expedited review pathway for drugs that show clinical evidence of superiority to existing treatments early in their development.

[5][6] The pathway was signed into law on July 9, 2012, as part of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act.

[citation needed] Beginning in 2012, Friends of Cancer Research organized a series of conference panels and workshops to develop a new clinical trial structure for targeted squamous cell lung cancer drugs.

The trial is a collaboration among NIH, FDA, SWOG, Foundation Medicine, Friends of Cancer Research, and several pharmaceutical companies.