AbbVie Inc. entered a partnership agreement to develop and commercialize India-based Lupin Ltd.'s cancer drug program.

The company will pay $30 million up front for an exclusive license to the Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue Lymphoma Translocation Protein 1, or MALT1, inhibitor program.

MALT1 is a protein that activates certain types of white blood cells, T-cell and B-cell lymphocyte, in the immune system. MALT1 inhibitors are considered to be an effective potential treatment against cancers linked to aggressive white blood cells.

North Chicago-based AbbVie will pay up to an additional $947 million in milestone payments, depending on successful completion of regulatory, development and commercial targets, as well as double-digit royalty on the sales of the product to Lupin.

Under the agreement, Lupin will retain the commercial rights to the product in India.

Lupin is a pharmaceutical company that develops, produces, and markets a range of branded and generic formulations, biotechnology products and active pharmaceutical ingredients worldwide.