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                                                                   Exhibit 10.16




                            DATE: SEPTEMBER 15, 2004





                           CRITICAL THERAPEUTICS, INC.

                                       AND

                               ABBOTT LABORATORIES



                           AMENDMENT NO. 1 RELATING TO
                   THE LICENSE AGREEMENT DATED MARCH 19, 2004





















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THIS AMENDMENT NO. 1 is made the 15th day of September, 2004

BETWEEN:

(1)      CRITICAL THERAPEUTICS, INC., a corporation organized under the laws of
         the State of Delaware, and with its principal office at 60 Westview
         Drive, Lexington, MA 02421 ("CTI"); and

(2)      ABBOTT LABORATORIES, a corporation organised under the laws of the
         State of Illinois and having its principal office at 100 Abbott Park
         Road, Abbott Park, Illinois 60064 ("ABBOTT")

RECITALS:

         (A)      CTI and Abbott entered into a License Agreement dated March
                  19, 2004 ("ORIGINAL AGREEMENT").

         (B)      CTI and Abbott have agreed to amend the Original Agreement by
                  and upon the terms of this Amendment No. 1.

OPERATIVE PROVISIONS:

1.       INTRODUCTION, DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION

         1.1      This Amendment No. 1 is supplemental to the Original
                  Agreement.

         1.2      Except where expressly provided to the contrary in this
                  Amendment No. 1:

                  1.2.1    all capitalised terms used in this Amendment No. 1
                           shall have the same meanings as are assigned thereto
                           in the Original Agreement, as amended by this
                           Amendment No. 1; and

                  1.2.2    this Amendment No. 1 shall be interpreted in the same
                           manner as the Original Agreement.

         1.3      Reference to clauses herein are to clauses in the Original
                  Agreement.

2.       AMENDMENTS

The parties agree that with effect from the Amendment No. 1 Date, the Original
Agreement is hereby amended as follows:

         2.1      Clause 1 shall be amended by the addition of the following
                  definitions:

                  ""AMENDMENT NO. 1 DATE" shall mean September 15, 2004."

                  ""DOMAIN NAME" shall mean www.zyflo.com."



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         2.2      Clause 2 shall be amended by the insertion of the following
                  Section 2.2A between Sections 2.2 and 2.3:

                  "2.2A  Domain Name Assignment

                           (a)      Subject to the terms and conditions of this
                  Agreement, Abbott hereby irrevocably and unconditionally
                  sells, transfers, conveys assigns and delivers to CTI all of
                  Abbott's right, title and interest in and to the Domain Name
                  and the registration thereof, together with the goodwill
                  associated therewith.

                           (b)      Abbott agrees to cooperate with CTI and to
                  follow CTI's reasonable instructions in order to effectuate
                  the transfer of the Domain Name registration in a timely
                  manner. Specifically, within thirty (30) days of the Amendment
                  No. 1 Date, Abbott agrees to prepare and transmit the
                  necessary InterNic Registrant Name Change Agreement (RNCA) and
                  or to correspond with InterNic to authorize transfer of the
                  Domain Name.

                           (c)      Abbott agrees that, as of the finalization
                  of the transfer of ownership of the Domain Name to CTI, it
                  will abandon all use of the Domain Name.

                           (d)      Abbott warrants and represents that it is
                  the owner of the Domain Name and that it has the authority to
                  transfer the Domain Name.

                           (e)      Abbott further agrees to execute any other
                  document and take any further action reasonably requested by
                  CTI to effectuate the intent and purpose of this Section
                  2.2A."

3.       NO OTHER AMENDMENT; CONFIRMATION

Save as amended by this Amendment No. 1, the parties hereto confirm that the
Original Agreement shall continue in full force and effect in all respects.

4.       COUNTERPARTS

This Amendment No. 1 may be signed in any number of counterparts with the same
effect as if the signatures to each counterpart were upon a single instrument,
and all such counterparts together shall be deemed an original of this Amendment
No. 1.

                      REST OF PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

                          SIGNATURES ON FOLLOWING PAGE




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IN WITNESS whereof the parties have executed and delivered this Amendment No 1
the date first above written.

SIGNED


/s/ Trevor Phillips
-----------------------------------------
Trevor Phillips
for and on behalf of
CRITICAL THERAPEUTICS, INC.



SIGNED


/s/ Suzanne A. LeBold, Ph.D.
-----------------------------------------
Suzanne A. LeBold, Ph.D.
for and on behalf of
ABBOTT LABORATORIES




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