As Ginkgo stock sinks, CEO Jason Kelly tries to win over drugmakers in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO — Ginkgo Bioworks CEO Jason Kelly is here trying to convince the world’s largest drugmakers that yes, really, he actually can in fact help you.

Kelly’s powers of persuasion, so potent for so long, have often come up short since Ginkgo went public in 2021. The company that raised $1.6 billion privately on the promise of engineering cells to make everyday products like perfumes and synthetic burgers — even one day an iPhone — has sunk like a rock on the open market.

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