<<Has any company really done well with this type of time / cost-cutting?>>
Some companies do have limited funds. Also, if the choice is between a 2-1 trial of, say 400 patients and a 1-1 trial of 200, is it necessarily a stupid decision? Isn't it possible that the extra possibility of not getting the placebo encourages enough extra patients to make a larger trial possible so that in the end, the power is greater?