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Federal inmates who were allowed to serve their prison terms at home during the COVID-19 pandemic will be able to remain there after the Biden administration lifts the public health emergency, under new rules unveiled by the U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday. The regulations are expected to provide some relief to inmates, who feared they could potentially be hauled back into prison when the public health emergency expires on May 11. (Lynch, 4/4)

The Justice Department noted that more than 52,000 inmates were placed under home confinement during COVID, and that most of them have completed their sentences from home. As of late January, there were 3,434 inmates still serving out a sentence at home. (Kasperowicz, 4/4)

Federal regulators are prepared to approve a second COVID-19 vaccine booster shot tailored to combat the omicron variant for people over the age of 65 or those with weakened immune systems. The move is an attempt to offer extra protection to high-risk individuals. (Vaziri, 4/4)

Arbutus Biopharma on Tuesday sued U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and its German partner BioNTech SE in a New Jersey district court, claiming their mRNA COVID-19 vaccines infringe five of Arbutus' patents. Arbutus, along with its licensee Genevant Sciences, is seeking damages, including reasonable royalties, over the use of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery technology in Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines to carry and transfer genetic material into the body. (4/4)

Gilead Sciences Inc on Tuesday unveiled data from the first human study of its experimental oral COVID-19 antiviral, saying the results in healthy volunteers cleared the way for two large Phase III trials of the drug that have begun enrolling patients. The drug, obeldesivir and previously known as GS-5245, is designed to keep the coronavirus that causes COVID from replicating in the body and overwhelming a patient's immune system. (Beasley, 4/4)