Amendment to Employment Agreement with John Randle



 Exhibit 10.16 
 AMENDMENT 
 This Agreement amends the letter agreement between CombinatoRx, Incorporated (the
“Company”) and John Randle (the “Employee”) dated as of the 24th day of July, 2007 (the “Employment Agreement”). All capitalized terms used in this Agreement shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Employment
Agreement, unless otherwise expressly provided herein. 
 For good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby
acknowledged, the parties agree as follows: 
 1. Section 5 of the Employment Agreement is amended by striking the existing
Section 5 in its entirety and replacing it with the following: 
 “Termination of Employment. If (i) the
Company terminates your employment other than for Cause (as defined below) or (ii) you terminate your employment for Good Reason (as defined below) upon written notice to the Company setting forth in reasonable detail the nature of such Good
Reason, whether before or after a Change of Control (as defined below), then the Company (A) shall provide you twelve (12) months of severance pay, at the rate of the base pay in effect immediately prior to the termination, payable in a
lump sum within five (5) business days after the effective date of the separation agreement described below; (B) shall pay the premium cost of your participation in the Company’s group medical and dental plans for a period of twelve
(12) months following the date of termination, provided that you are entitled to continue such participation under applicable law and plan terms; and (C) shall cause to become vested on the date of termination 100% of any options granted
pursuant to Section 3 hereof or otherwise which remain unvested on that date and you shall be entitled to not less than ninety (90) days following the date of termination to exercise all or any portion of such options, provided that in no
event may the exercise date extend beyond the original maximum term of the option. 
 In the event that it is determined that any payments or
benefits provided by the Company to you or for your benefit, either under this Agreement or otherwise, will be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Internal Revenue Code or any successor provision (“Section 4999”),
you may elect either to pay such excise tax or to have such payments and benefits reduced to the extent necessary so that you shall not be liable for any such excise tax. 
 “Cause” for termination means: (i) your conviction of a felony; (ii) your willful failure to perform (other than by reason of disability), or gross negligence in the performance of, your duties and
responsibilities, which failure or negligence continues or remains uncured after thirty (30) days’ written notice to you setting forth in reasonable detail the nature of such failure or negligence; (iii) material breach by you of any
provision of any agreement between you and the Company, which breach continues or remains uncured after thirty (30) days’ written notice to you setting forth in reasonable detail the nature of such breach; or (iv) material fraudulent
conduct by you with respect to the Company. 









 A “Change of Control” shall be deemed to have occurred when any of the following events takes
place: (i) any Person is or becomes the beneficial owner (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended), directly or indirectly, of fifty (50%) percent or more of the outstanding common stock of the
Company; (ii) a sale, merger or consolidation after which securities possessing more than fifty (50%) percent of the total combined voting power of the Company’s outstanding securities have been transferred to or acquired by a Person
or Persons different from the Persons who held such percentage of the total combined voting power immediately prior to such transaction; (iii) the sale, transfer or other disposition of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets to
one or more Persons (other than a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company or a parent company whose stock ownership after the transaction is the same as the Company’s ownership before the transaction); or (iv) an acquisition, merger or
similar transaction or a divestiture of a substantial portion of the Company’s business after which your role is not substantially the same as such role prior to the transaction. For purposes of this Change of Control definition,
“Person” means an individual, a corporation, a limited liability company, an association, a partnership, an estate, a trust and any other entity or organization, other than the Company or any persons or entities directly or indirectly
controlling, controlled by or under common control with the Company, where control may be by either management authority or equity interest. 
 “Good Reason” for termination by you means (i) the Company materially reducing the scope of your duties and responsibilities or materially demoting or reducing your authority; (ii) a material change to your primary place
of employment with the Company, which results in the Company changing your primary place of employment to a location that is more than fifty (50) miles from your primary place of employment with the Company immediately prior to such change; or
(iii) the Company materially reducing your base salary. 
 In order to receive any severance pay, benefit premium contributions or
vesting of stock options under this Section 5, you must execute, and not revoke, a separation agreement that includes a general release of claims in a form required by the Company.” 
 2. Add the following new Section 9: 
 “9. Timing of Payments. If at the time of your separation from service, you are a “specified employee,” as hereinafter defined, any and all amounts payable under Section 5 in connection with
such separation from service that constitute deferred compensation subject to Internal Revenue Code, § 409A (“Section 409A”), as determined by the Company in its sole discretion, and that would (but for this sentence) be payable
within six months following such separation from service, shall instead be paid on the date that follows the date of such separation from service by six (6) months. For purposes of the preceding sentence, “separation from service”
shall be determined in a manner consistent with subsection (a)(2)(A)(i) of Section 409A and the term “specified employee” shall mean an individual determined by the Company to be a specified employee as defined in subsection
(a)(2)(B)(i) of Section 409A.” 









 3. Add the following new Section 10: 
 “10. Successors. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the Company and its successors or
assigns.” 
 Except as expressly modified herein, the Employment Agreement, and all of its terms and provisions, shall remain unchanged
and in full force and effect. This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which shall be an original and all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument. 
 Intending to be legally bound, the parties have signed this Agreement to take effect on the date on which it is signed by the second of the parties.

  

									
	COMBINATORX, INCORPORATED:	 		 	THE EMPLOYEE:
				
	By:	 	/s/ Robert Forrester	 		 	/s/ John Randle
	Title:	 	EVP and Chief Financial Officer	 		 	John Randle
					
	Date:	 	December 12, 2008	 		 	Date:	 	December 17, 2008