Abbvie Inc. has agreed to pay Lupin Ltd. $30 million up front and as much as $947 million in milestones for an exclusive license to a molecule designed to inhibit a protein involved in both T-cell and B-cell lymphocyte activation across a range of blood cancers. The deal gives Abbvie access to a relatively new class of drugs capable of inhibiting mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma translocation protein 1 (MALT-1), which may improve response to immunotherapy according to early research. If successful, Mumbai-based Lupin would be entitled to receive a double-digit royalty on sales of any product from the collaboration and will retain commercial rights to the program in India.