Inclusion Criteria:

- Patients with histologically confirmed diagnosis of ALL.

- Patients confirmed to be Ph chromosome positive or bcr-abl gene positive.

- Patients in relapse

- Patients refractory to initial remission induction therapy

- Patients ineligible for initial remission induction therapy

- Patients with an ECOG Performance Status Score from 0 to 2

- Serum creatinine concentration of not more than 2 × the upper limit of the normal
range (ULN)

- AST (SGOT) and ALT (SGPT) of not more than 3 × ULN. In patients with hepatic
dysfunction from leukemic involvement, AST (SGOT) and ALT (SGPT) should be not more
than 5 × ULN

- Serum bilirubin level not more than 3 × ULN

Exclusion Criteria:

- Patients with findings indicative of leukemic involvement of the central nervous
system

- Patients with any serious concomitant medical condition (e.g., poorly controllable
infection, interstitial pneumonia, pulmonary fibrosis, congestive cardiac failure,
poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, mental disorder)

- Patients expected to receive any hematopoietic stem cell transplantation within 6
weeks of the planned initiation of the study drug

- Patients having received any hematopoietic stem cell transplantation who have a Grade
3 or 4 GVHD.

Other protocol-defined inclusion/exclusion criteria may apply.