INDIANAPOLIS—When Covid-19 struck, drug companies around the world began racing to find vaccines and treatments. One factor has gummed up their efforts: They have to work in an environment transformed by the very problem they are trying to tackle.
At Eli Lilly & Co., the chief of a laboratory, quarantining at home after he contracted Covid-19, had to use a robot equipped with an iPad to patrol his lab. When shipping constraints threatened to delay testing of an experimental drug, Lilly repurposed its corporate jet to get vials…
