elisp regexp, what does this mean?

[heinz . eriksson]

I am trying to understand what the following:

(defun erl-ie-eval-expression (node)
  (interactive (list (erl-ie-read-nodename)))
  (erl-ie-read-nodename)
  (let ((end (point))
        (beg (save-excursion
               (loop do (re-search-backward "\\(\\`\\|^\\<\\)")
                     while (looking-at "end"))
               (point))))
    (erl-ie-evaluate beg end node t)))

Or rather the inner part involving the (scattered toothpick style)
regexp.

It is a function in distel-ie.el in http://code.google.com/p/distel/

I understand that the intent of the function is to grab a piece of
erlang source code and  pass it over for evaluation on the erlang
side. Doing so by starting from point and looking backward until...
yes, what/how?

BR